


Equal Ground

by treashh



Series: The MagiVel Dumpster Fire [1]
Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Angst, F/F, Slow Burn, spoilers to magilou's backstory, updates every thursday!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2020-04-10 19:58:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19096987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treashh/pseuds/treashh
Summary: “You forget that I’m a daemon. Why would I ever feel bad about using others to get what I want?” When Magilou shrugged, Velvet added, “And besides, we’re practically on equal ground.”That got Magilou’s attention. “Oh?” The blonde questioned, one eyebrow raised. “What makes you assume that? I mean, let’s be real here, sweetcheeks: You’re a daemon. We were never on equal ground in the first place, nor will we ever be.”Or,  Magilou doesn't care about social cues and pushes Velvet's buttons too much. Somewhere on the ride, they grow to tolerate each other, and then it turns into something more. Too bad we all know how this story ends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I shan't apologize for this dumpster fire (BUT I shall apologize if there are typos bcus I have no proofreader) ;')

Barely an hour since she'd left Titania, and Velvet was already seconds away from killing someone. The guilty party, in fact, was standing but a few feet away, in the same cabin, on the same ship that was inevitably going to crash into some island, somewhere. She could hear the storm in the distance, and the waves lapping against the ship were already picking up. Regardless of what happened to the ship, though, Velvet _refused_ to accept that she had a chance of dying.

She would get her revenge. Revenge for Laphicet. For Celica, for being used like that. Seres, too, even though she was still technically a part of Celica, but a different entity all the same.

Velvet would get her revenge… _but I don’t know if this witch will live through this ship ride with me to see it happen_ , Velvet thought, glaring at the blonde who was babbling on about something that the she-daemon was tuning out.  _Maybe I could just throw her off the side of the ship. In a storm like this, it would take a while for her body to wash ashore. Even then, why would I care?_

"You know, my daemon dear, I definitely was not expecting my prison break to end up like this,” Magilou hummed, hands behind her head and back leaned up against a wall. “I mean, I could’ve gotten out of that prison whenever I wanted to, but I was just waiting for the right time, you know? Then I hear that some crazy she-daemon was thrown on Titania— in their most secure prison, no less— so I knew _you_ were going to attempt a break some way, somehow. It was all just a matter of when. But still, it was so action-packed—"

"—and yet, you didn't lift a damn finger towards the guards or their Malakhim—"

"—so dramatic—"

"—I can at least give you that one, yeah—"

"—and so heart-wrenching!"

"... How in the hell was that prison break heart-wrenching?" Velvet scoffed. There was still another few minutes until Rokurou would need her help again, so she decided to entertain the exorcist in strange clothes. It was at least some sort of amusement, and if she got some pent up frustration out by punching a wall(or the smug blonde in front of her), then that would just be a bonus in the scheme of things.

"Please,” Magilou scoffed, rolling her eyes, “A brute like you would never understand the true beauty of what just happened! You practically used all those poor, innocent—"

"—not so innocent. They were all prisoners, if you remember correctly—"

"—souls who didn't deserve to have their strings played to the tune of some catastrophic she-daemon of calamity!" Magilou finished, with a flourish of her hand. "I'll say, though, that was quite the stunt you pulled. Convincing all those helpless morons into thinking they could win a battle that they never had hopes of winning in the first place? What a power move."

“You flatter me,” Velvet deadpanned, crossing her arms. “But they were all idiots whose fates were to rot in prison cells for the rest of their lives.”

“Better to use what’s at your disposal rather than let it lose its shelf life, right?” Magilou hummed, chuckling. “Oh, now that is just _so_ evil. I expected no less of the daemon thrown in that hole of a cell. Good on you for being so nonchalant about using people’s lives like that.”

“You forget that I’m a daemon. Why would I ever feel bad about using others to get what I want?” When Magilou shrugged, Velvet added, “And besides, we’re practically on equal ground.”

 _That_ got Magilou’s attention. “Oh?” The blonde questioned, one eyebrow raised. “What makes you assume that? I mean, let’s be real here, sweetcheeks: You’re a daemon. We were never on equal ground in the first place, nor will we ever be.”

“You’re right on that front,” Velvet agreed, smirking. “I will always be above a bottom of the barrel exorcist like you.”

“I don’t know how many times I’ll have to correct you in the near future, but get it branded into that thick skull of yours,” Magilou sighed, waving a hand lazily in the air. “I’m a _witch_. Not an exorcist. And, for your information, the bottom of the barrel would be the exorcists that you tossed around back in Titania. I’d like to think I’m on the level of a legate.”

“You, a legate?” Velvet laughed, shaking her head. For all her time in prison, the raven-haired daemon knew little of the workings of the Abbey. But she _did_ know that legates were definitely one of the more higher up ranks. Just because she was in that cell didn't mean that she couldn't pick up the exorcist gossip, here and there. “I could snap your neck in two seconds, flat.”

“Oh, that sounds like a bet waiting to be placed, Velvet cake.” Magilou grinned impishly, but it faded into a dramatized pout when the raven-haired daemon headed towards the cabin door. “Boo! Chickening out of a bet, are we?”

“When I don’t have any money to my name because both you and I just escaped from the most guarded prison in Midgand? Of course I’m 'chickening out,'” Velvet responded with ease, walking past Magilou without a second glance.

“So that means that when we both have money to our names, you’ll reconsider—”

“Not what I meant,” Velvet snapped, opening and closing the cabin door behind her.

Magilou huffed, crossing her arms. She was thrown in that prison cell in Titania after staying out of Melchior’s clutches for so long, and all thanks to that damned Bienfu. She could’ve lived out her sentence without looking like she aged a day from the second she was thrown in, and yet…

And yet, here she was, a living escapee from that hell of a prison. For being the most guarded island of crooks in the oh-so- _Holy_ Midgand Empire, one would expect that they at least gave their prisoners decent food to eat and semi-comfortable beds to sleep in. But, no, all they had was disgusting slop and water that was so obviously from the ocean that you could still taste the salt and those wooden cots. _Wooden!_ They weren’t comfortable at all. They were just— just wood!

Still, that was the theatrical, overdramatic Magilou talking. The one that was just a mask made of orichalcum— impenetrable, unbreakable— and nowhere _near_ the true Magilou. The real Magilou didn’t give a single damn about the food she forced down her throat, nor did she give a single damn about the wooden cot she slept on, or those rags that the guards called “blankets.”

What a joke her life had turned into, and it was all thanks to her closest friend who stabbed her in the back, then got her thrown into prison. Now, she was almost as powerless as she was Malak-less, and that does not a strong, intimidating witch make. She could still do a few aesthetically pleasing tricks here and there, but the strong spells that packed a mean punch came with the package of a Malak. That Malak was Bienfu, but, lo and behold, he was nowhere in sight.

Well, no use in mulling over it when she had all that time in Titania to do the exact same thing.

Speaking of, part of her still couldn’t believe that she got out of Titania so easily. She knew better than anyone that if Melchior wanted her to stay there, then she would _stay there_ . No arguments, no struggle unless that fucked up old man wanted her to struggle. To _try_ to break free. But here she was, on a ship doomed to crash or sink or literally _not_ make it to any hospitable place, period.

Regardless, the she-daemon Velvet Crowe— who was technically her savior from that hell-hole, but Magilou would never say it out loud— was an interesting character driven on stubbornness and... something else, perhaps? Magilou couldn’t judge, but she seemed quite young for such a powerful daemon. Then again, Rokurou was also thrown into prison, and he had the same strength as Velvet. They both looked so young, as did Magilou. Looks were deceiving, though, if the blonde had learned anything from her life so far. And she'd learned a lot.

The ship lurched, and thunder crashed outside.

If she only had Bienfu, Magilou would’ve been able to clear this storm with ease. But that traitor just _had_ to sell her out. Just because the spoiled little Malak didn’t like the way they were living now. Said that he’d be better off back with Melchior and the other praetor exorcists. Betraying her for the damned Abbey, of all things! And going back to the place where that old man was, to boot.

Damned fool. Bienfu should’ve known better than anyone what kind of a monster Melchior was. He was always a monster. Not as bad as the damned Menagerie, at least.

Nothing would ever be as bad as the Menagerie.

The ship lurched again, and Magilou stumbled, her shoulder slamming into a wall of the cabin. She hissed at the sharp sensation of pain. For all the years she’s been alive, she never learned a damn thing about how ships worked— well, that was a lie. She had a vague idea of the workings of a ship such as this, but she didn’t care enough to help the two daemons on board with her.

There was a part of her that knew that she wouldn’t die from a simple boat ride in a storm. She’d been through much worse compared to this: shoved in a cage in the musky storage of a cargo ship, threatened with lashings if she so much as breathed too loud. One would expect that a girl with the title of a witch would at least be treated with some sense of respect.

Not in that morbid Menagerie.

She shook her head. _Think of something else._ Magilou wasn’t entirely useless without Bienfu. There was just the problem of her actually caring about the wellbeing of Velvet and Rokurou. Magilou lived by the “survival of the fittest,” and she cared about the survival of herself, only. After all her experiences in life, she knew the best course of action was to simply pretend and be the annoyingly happy-go-lucky magic girl with a sick closet of secrets. Who knows how many skeletons were hiding in there.

Magilou would be lying if she said that she hadn’t almost lost count once or twice.

 _Damnit, distract yourself, you stupid witch!_ Her first order of business would be to find Bienfu. Even then, the first hurdle to jump over to get to the first order of business would be figuring out where the hell he was. If that traitorous rat was true to his word, then he was probably already tethered to another praetor exorcist by now. That would be just her luck, having to deal with more exorcists when she spent a lot of her time post-Melchior surrounded by the fancy white-uniformed exorcists and their enslaved Malakhim.

Magilou hated seeing living beings used as tools, but there wasn’t a big enough part in her that cared to do anything. She lived through that same treatment— for much too long, as well— and being able to see Malakhim since she was born wasn't that much of a blessing in disguise, either. Still, it was mostly thanks to Artorius and his little Abbey for the enslavement of Malakhim.

Him, and that bastard Melchior.

“Magilou!” The blonde witch heard Velvet call out her name. “Could use an extra hand out here, to at least delay our crashing into land or something!”

“Our imminent demise, you mean?” Magilou responded under her breath. When she flung open the cabin door, she was immediately met with ice cold pellets of rain, ocean water splashing over the edges of the ship, thunder, and lightning, and—

“I really hate to break it to you two like this,” Magilou yelled over the storm, “But we are _definitely_ going to die! No if, ands, or buts about it, this is not a storm that people live through to tell the tale, _especially_ when the ship’s crew consists of three people that are barely educated on how ships work!”

“Stop being such a whiny pissbaby and help!” Velvet ordered, snapping at Magilou without a second thought. “Maybe if you actually did something other than _complain_ , your chances of death would be lower!”

“ _My_ chances of death!? What about your chance of death!? You are fully capable of dying, just the same as me, sweetcheeks! You can’t escape death like you escaped Titania! We! Are! Going! To! _Die_!”

“Well, if we’re gonna die, can you at least help out, Magilou?! Just a little bit!” Rokurou piped up, his tone a lot nicer than Velvet’s. “I know you probably know, like, absolutely nothing about ships, but just help until I can magically crash this ship into land, so we don’t drown! Because drowning is _not_ fun!”

“You’re telling me,” Magilou grumbled, but moved to help nonetheless. Part of her knew that she wasn’t going to die here. No, there was too much to accomplish. Being under an oath that also made her practically immortal also had its benefits.

But, just like Velvet, Magilou Mayvin was hellbent on _revenge_. On the old man that destroyed the young Magillanica Lou Mayven, who thought she’d live to see the light of day where she could smile without a care in the world.

Instead, Magillanica died, and Magilou was born from the ashes of that poor, poor girl. And this Phoenix wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted.

And she wanted Melchior dead.


	2. Chapter 2

They were alive.

It was no surprise to Magilou, and she couldn't help but smirk at the fact that, of course, she knew that she wouldn't die. If the world wanted her dead, then she would've been clawed down to the deepest depths of hell years ago.

But she wasn't, and although Magilou would prefer to have the warmth of a thousand flames of hell, her body was resting on a cold bed of snow. With what they'd just went through, colder weather did not help.

After struggling with the boat for another hour or... however long their little sea ride took, Rokurou warned that they were heading towards land, and fast. "If I were you guys, I'd either take cover or hold onto something like your life depends on it!"

"My life already depends on it, Rokurou! I'm a lot more fragile than you thick-skinned daemon brutes!" Magilou yelled back, already grasping onto the railing. "I swear, if I die here then I'm coming back and haunting the both of you!"

And then they crashed.

Now that Magilou thought about it, shouldn't she have multiple broken ribs, scratches, and bruises scattered throughout her body? And yet... there were traces of healing artes that she could feel. The warm, tingly feeling that anyone felt when healing artes were used on them.

Who could've healed her? Those two daemons are more brutes than bishops, and Velvet would probably rather stab herself than heal Magilou. A Malakhim? But what Malak would randomly just come and treat a group of misfits such as her and the other two? Magilou rose from the snow, little flecks and chunks falling off here and there. She cleaned herself off before paying close attention to anything else.

The two daemons were already up and about, discussing something. Magilou's ears perked up when she heard something about a Malak. "Did you know that kid, Velvet?" Rokurou asked, his voice lighter than usual. Softer. _What's that about?_

"No. I don't know any Malakhim. Not anymore, at least," Velvet responded, brushing the question off with ease. At that, she noticed Magilou was up, and the she-daemon immediately sent a glare her way. "Oh. You're up."

"I can feel the disappointment just as much as I can hear it, Velvet. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, didja?" Magilou smiled, then went along without waiting for a comeback. "I heard you guys talking about a Malakhim. Was that the one who healed us?" Just as she thought, the other two were patched up and ready to go. Rokurou nodded, answering instead of Velvet, who was glaring a hole into the snow. "Do you know if that was an exorcist's Malak?"

"Looked like it. Ran off as soon as I woke up, though," Velvet responded, arms crossed. "Does it matter? Let's get going, or I'll leave you both behind."

"Alright, snappy," Magilou grumbled under her breath, following after the two daemons. Rokurou fell behind to walk with Magilou, as they both felt that Velvet needed some time to breathe. "Why does it seem like she's more explosive than usual?" Her voice was a low whisper, but still loud enough to where she knew that Velvet would hear her.

"Why're you asking me? Shouldn't you be asking Velvet about her temper tantrum?" Rokurou answered, his voice the same volume. "But it might have something to do with that Malak. It's not my place to give you the details, though. If you're that curious—"

"I'm not. I couldn't care less about Velvet's emotional issues; I just wanted to know why she's... like that. We’re alive, shouldn’t she be as peppy as she can be with that piss poor attitude? But I'll be able to put two and two together, eventually. Magilou's got a knack for reading people," she said, adding a shrug on for good measure.

"Well, Rokurou has a feeling that if you prod too much, you're gonna get your neck snapped by an angry daemon lady."

"An angry daemon lady who's already angry all the time?"

"Well—"

"If you two want to stop talking and actually pay attention to our surroundings, I'd greatly appreciate it," Velvet snapped, arms crossed and a bandaged finger tapping on the blade guard on her other arm. Magilou and Rokurou shared a glance, and the samurai daemon mouthed the words “neck snapped” before picking up his pace to match Velvet’s.  
Magilou, on the other hand, didn’t give a damn about what Velvet wanted. She wanted to think, and Magilou did that better when a snappy daemon wasn’t there to yell at her. Not like she’d be any help in fights, anyway. Not without Bienfu.

But that brought up the topic of that Malak that healed them. Assuming that it was an exorcist’s Malak— and a decent one, at that. Especially if it could cure all those wounds for three people— it made Magilou wonder what kind of idiot would go and heal three highly suspicious-looking characters knocked out next to a crashed ship that obviously wasn’t theirs.

_What sort of moron…?_

This exorcist was either naive or stupid— scratch that, this exorcist was naive and stupid. You see a crashed boat, and three passed out people: A samurai, a partially naked girl with an arm wrapped entirely in bandages, and, well... Magilou was Magilou, so of course, she looked highly suspicious.

But still…

Magilou kept her mouth shut about it for the time being, and stayed with her obnoxious personality that kind of annoyed Rokurou and especially irritated Velvet until she parted ways with them to find Bienfu.

Or at least look for the little rat. Knowing Magilou’s luck, it probably all ran out when she didn’t get her dainty figure mauled and broken this way and that when they crashed into that cliff. Still, she could at least give herself an A for effort in searching for her Malak. If it weren’t for her stubbornness, the witch would probably act a little kinder towards Bienfu. He knew about her… history, more than anyone else, maybe besides Grim. But still, Magilou that she could at least be a little friendlier towards the Malak that stayed with her for so long, and yet…

Not her problem if Bienfu betrayed her for the Abbey.

Still, she’d find that little gremlin no matter what even if he was finally tired of her. He wouldn’t be the first to abandon her, and he definitely wouldn’t be the last: From her parents to members of the Menagerie, to Melchior disowning her after he considered her to be a failure, and now to Bienfu, who’d been her closest friend for the past few decades.

Well, no point in reminiscing and trying to make herself cry thinking about all of her past trauma. Magilou hummed, hopping off the roof of the church in Hellawes, bored of scanning the exorcists for traces of Bienfu. 

She’d be a failure of a witch if she couldn’t sense her Malak in another, even if her pact with Bienfu was broken. Each Malakhim has a different wavelength, and someone like the great Magilou— who's had high resonance since birth— has a higher affinity of sensing those different wavelengths in Malakhim. Greater Malaks have stronger wavelengths, and the weaker ones are lower, but still easy to detect.

Being especially close to Bienfu, it was easy to sense his specific wavelength. Not being able to sense it gave Magilou the clear conclusion that Bienfu was not in Hellawes, which was the smallest of a setback. Magilou shrugged to herself— regardless of where Bienfu was, it didn't matter if she got him now or later, in an entirely different town. Velvet and Rokurou could handle themselves in a battle, and if she stayed with them, Bienfu would most likely end up in her hands eventually.

But, for now, she'd lay as low as humanly possible with two daemons in her party. 

* * *

 After an unsuccessful search for her Malak, Magilou appeared by Velvet and Rokurou's side when they were getting rooms for the inn in Hellawes. Neither of them asked where she'd gone, and it was boring. No worried glances, no concerned looks or frowns... no reactions that gave Magilou any amusement, whatsoever.

It was a double-edged blade, sharing a room with Velvet. The she-daemon's cold personality was even more frigid, and Magilou pushing her buttons made things all the tenser. There was one bed, and Magilou called it without a second's hesitation, and Velvet glared at her for a few seconds before giving it up.

Then, Magilou realized that taking the bed was pointless. She rarely ever slept in the company of others, and it wasn't going to start now. Hell, she rarely slept, period. Having a daemon as violent and explosive as Velvet sharing a room with her? 

Hell no.

"You know, Velvet, you could really do for a personality makeover. One that would change your snappy self into something... less snappy. And explosive. And unapproachable. And—"

"My personality doesn't matter, as long as I get revenge on who I need to get revenge on. Nothing more, nothing less," Velvet snapped, her back leaned against a wall as Magilou was seated on the bed, comfortable under the covers. "Nothing else matters other than my revenge."

"Ugh. No wonder nobody likes you."

"Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me," Velvet responded smoothly, not even glancing at Magilou. "You're less likable than I am, with how annoying and useless you are."

"Well, I—"

"When have you ever helped us in a fight? When have you done  _anything_ other than making a stupid comment or joke to attempt to be funny or just to push my buttons? You're an obnoxious, spoiled  _brat_ who I'd rather not have tagging along." 

"The real question you should be asking is: 'Does Magilou  _care_ enough to help you in a fight?' Because to answer your question, I haven't given a single damn about what happens to you or Rokurou. If you couldn't tell, already, I'm only here because you broke me out of prison and successfully got me off of that damned island. I'm only here because I have nothing else better to do than bother a snappy daemon girl that thinks that the world owes her because of all the pain and suffering that she's gone through." Magilou scoffed. "Hate to break it to you, Velvet cake, but the world doesn't owe you  _shit_. Never has, never will."

"I don't think that the world owes me—"

"You sure about that? 'Cause the way you act does say otherwise." Magilou cleared her throat, then began to impersonate Velvet. " _Nothing else matters except for getting my revenge. I will use anything to my disposal to get what I want."_ Then, in her normal voice, "Sounds a lot like someone who thinks that the world owes them for all the strife and pain they've been through. Poor thing."

Next thing Magilou knew, Velvet had jumped towards her with her daemon arm summoned. She was barely even an inch away from getting brutally murdered by a daemon, and yet the blonde didn't even flinch or bat an eye. "If you're gonna kill me, then do it. Regardless of what happens, I'm just a stepping stone along the way to your success, right?"

Velvet settled with slapping Magilou across the face with her human hand, then proceeded to storm out of the room, slamming the door as she left.

The blonde shrugged, shimmied further under the covers, and pretended to sleep, hoping that, somewhere along the way, she'd fall asleep and have a dreamless slumber.

She never did hear Velvet come back into the room that night.

* * *

 Unsurprisingly, laying low was not successful. Magilou sighed as she sat in front of Teresa, the platinum-blonde-haired exorcist pacing in front of her. She was going on and on about how her "dearest brother Oscar" was wounded by that "disgusting excuse of a daemon," and Magilou had to stifle a laugh or two.

"You know, she does have a name," Magilou finally interrupted, smirking up at Teresa. "Velvet Crowe is the name of that daemon that wounded your brother. I saw the whole thing, you know. One of Oscar's—"

"You shall address my brother as  _praetor_ Oscar, you fiend," Teresa snapped, thrusting her staff's sharp end pointedly at Magilou's throat. "Do not think that I've forgotten that you are that daemon's subordinate—"

" _Consul_ praetor, right?" Magilou interrupted, her voice relaxed. The way that the blonde tensed, her eyebrow furrowing, made Magilou grin. "Both you, Teresa Linares, and your half-brother, Oscar Dragonia, are consul-ranked praetors. You were born out of wedlock by the head of the Dragonia family, and a woman whose identity is unknown. Your mother died when you were young— by "sickness," but it's to be assumed that she was killed off to save the Dragonia family's hide. I'll stop there."

"How did you...?" Teresa questioned, her entire body tense. "How do you know all of that?" The blonde exorcist tried to keep her voice calm but failed miserably. 

"Wouldn't you  _love_ to know, _Praetor_ Teresa?" Magilou smiled. "But anyway, I'm  _barely_ Velvet's subordinate. I'm just here to leech off of her and reach my own goals without really having to work that much. The complete opposite of you exorcists that pretend to do all the work, when, in reality, the Malakhim under your control are slaves to your every order." Magilou grinned, leaning back in the pew she was sitting in, moving her hands to twine behind her head. "But, hey, what do I know about you exorcists? I'm a mere insect in the scheme of things."

"Make another statement like that again, and I'll cut your throat," Teresa threatened, but Magilou could hear the shakiness in her voice. She was  _scared_ of the witch sitting in front of her.  _"How much does she know," is probably what she's wondering right now. Well, hate to break it to you sister, but I know_ everything _. The Abbey's files show all, especially when you're a legate, and I know enough about how the system works to know that you and your brother would be consul-ranked by now. I'm just that good._

"Oh, feisty. Also, not smart of you to threaten the one who has dirt on the daemon you're after. You  _are_ using me to bait Velvet out, right?" Teresa's frown deepened. "Typical. She's not stupid, you know. She also couldn't give a rat's ass about what happens to me, too. It doesn't matter if you imprison me again, beat me to a bloody pulp, or even kill me. All she cares about is revenge. Everyone and everything else? Stepping stools on the way to her goal. A shining example of a true daemon, if you ask me."

"Daemon's don't have  _shining examples_ ," Teresa snapped, still threatening Magilou with the sharp metal of her staff. "They're all rotten to the core."

"I hear you on that one, sister." Teresa arched an eyebrow, and Magilou chuckled, lifting her hands in mock defeat. "Right, sorry.  _Praetor_ Teresa. Goodness, you exorcists are all the same, aren't you...?"

"Who are you, even? How did you have all that information on my brother and me?" Teresa practically  _ordered_ Magilou to answer with the tone of voice that she had, but the blonde witch wouldn't budge.

"Wouldn't you like to know, girlie?" Magilou's ears perked up, and she heard footsteps quickly making their way towards the chapel door. "Looks like my knight in shining armor is on her way. Have fun dealing with that girl and the other daemon."

"On your feet, criminal." Teresa kept a focused eye on Magilou the entire time as she got up, scanning her person for any move that would harm her.  _Damn, she seems like she'd survive against Velvet. Poor thing thinks she has a chance against her and Rokurou. She'll barely even last a minute._

"Yeah, yeah. Poke me with that thing, and I won't go any faster, though."

As Magilou guessed, after Rokurou and Velvet destroyed Teresa's Malakhim and destroyed Hellawes'... Hellawes, Velvet didn't think twice about Magilou. Regardless, the blonde witch tagged along, practically sprinting on their impromptu stolen ship. When they successfully sailed away, Magilou mulled over her thoughts, ignoring the annoyed glares that a particular raven-haired daemon was sending her way.

She sensed traces of Bienfu on that crybaby exorcist.

_It just gets better and better from here._

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's here! Sorry for the long-ish wait, but this is a weekly update kinda deal. Still, if I can ever post early then I promise I will-- I really love writing this story. If there are any errors, don't be afraid to tell me about them in the comments below! I strive for improvement, and when my viewers tell me what I can improve, I'll do whatever I can to meet their expectations.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Not being able to grab Bienfu from that entitled red-head would've put a definite damper on Magilou's mood, but she couldn't have cared less.  _Yes_ , it was a pain not having her Malak,  _yes_ it would be nice to have the power that gave her the strength of a Legate back, and  _yes,_ it was fun fucking around with Bienfu regardless of what he wanted. Empyreans above, the little bastard probably enjoyed all the shit that Magilou did to him. He seems screwed up enough in the head for that to be a possibility.

To be completely honest, though, Magilou didn't  _care_. She'd get Bienfu back when she got him back, and if it wasn't when she encountered that exorcist in Hellawes? So be it. There's going to be a time in the future where she'll get her Malak back, and that would be that. No problematic situations, no whining— well,  _definitely_ some whining, here and there. She's Magilou, after all— no begging for her Malak to make a pact with her again.

If only Bienfu weren't such a little shit. Magilou's life would be  _so_ much easier if he weren't a spoiled brat.

Hell, maybe she  _deserved_ this treatment. Magilou chuckled to herself. Maybe Melchior had a hand in all of this. Planning every single step, knowing Magilou's every move from the moment she got herself caught and tossed into Titania. Why in the hell would he care about what  _she_ was doing with her time? Running around like a chicken with its head cut off, searching  _aimlessly_ and  _hopelessly_ for her poor, poor Malak that those _awful_ exorcists tore away from her—

As  _if_.

Bienfu abandoned her for Melchior and the Abbey. Simple as that. After being reborn as Magilou after Magillanica died a heartbroken, horrible death, the blonde was still figuring out how to live  _as_ Magilou. With a new mask slowly hardening to be on the same level as orichalcum, Magilou was taking baby steps. And what better way to take baby steps but with a Malak that'd been with her for years, already? Or, at least, had been with Magillanica. 

Maybe that's why Bienfu left her— because he knew Magillanica, but not Magilou. 

But what was so appealing about that broken Menagerie girl, compared to a witch as strong as herself? Who would want a girl who was easily enticed by empty lies and promises of those she thought she could trust? How many times had Magillanica been lied to, and was too oblivious and trusting to see through the dishonest monsters that took up the majority of her childhood? She'd been forced to smile and laugh and pretend that she wasn't whipped and burned and  _tortured_ behind the scenes. The poor girl had been plastering on fake appearances that weren't strong enough to survive through the pain she'd experienced.

And healing artes hadn't existed back then. No, Magillanica had to  _suffer_ through the blood flowing down her back. She had to hide the burns under her costume, ignoring the pain that it caused when her sleeves chafed or rubbed against her wounds. No gel could truly soothe the pain that she went through.

But Magillanica  _survived._ She lived and strived and  _fought_ for as long as she could.

She survived, and for  _what_ _?_ Just to get destroyed all over again by the man she considered to be her father? The one who took him in just to use her like the rest of the people in her life before that? What a sick, sick joke it was, when her trust—  _Magillanica_ _'s_ trust— deteriorated for the last time. When she failed Melchior, and she was left begging and crying and sobbing while all her poor excuse "father" did was stare past her, unwavering.

He didn't even look at her while she begged for a second try, coming up with excuse after excuse, just so she wasn't abandoned again.

 _“Is it so much to ask for_ — _to long for a life where I was actually loved? Where I wasn’t tossed aside by my birth parents because I was a freak in their eyes!?”_ The blonde witch could still hear the cries of a desperate Magillanica attempting to sway Melchior to let her try again. The sounds brought a smirk to her face. _“I never asked to see Malakhim. I never asked to have a high resonance since birth. Do you think I ever wanted a life where I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to rebuild the walls around my heart over, and over, and over again? Do you think I wanted a life where I was thrown into the life of a little girl who was known as a witch all because she saw ‘ghosts’ and could move objects without touching them?_

 _“I was a way for them to rake in cash — a tool for them to use and then discard when I got too old. I was subjected to harsh conditions and brutal torture over the smallest of things. No child wants a life like that! No child wants to be whipped until blood runs down their back like a waterfall, only to have someone slap some healing gel on the wounds like it’s no big deal! I was abused and_ — _and of course I’ll come out fucked up when I had a childhood like that! And now you’re throwing me aside, too?!”_

Melchior had only stared at Magillanica with an ice-cold eye. He never cared. All he wanted was a successor. _“You were the most brilliant, yet most disappointing student I’ve ever had, Magillanica. Now, you are nothing to me. You are not the daughter that I saved from that accident and continued to raise to be my successor. I’ve no need of a worthless girl like you.”_

_Worthless girl._

__Was he wrong, though?_ _ A part of Magilou asked. _Of course he wasn't._ __Magillanica was blind to reality. Poor girl thought that old man Mayvin actually gave two shits about what happened to her. But, no, all he wanted was an excellent successor to shadow Artorius. The last name Mayvin is a shackle, after all. We write down history, and for what? A pat on the back? Why would anyone care about a girl like_ — _

"You alright there, Magilou?" Rokurou had stood beside the blonde, resting his arms on the railing of the ship just as she was doing. "Haven't heard a snappy, peppy comment from you since we boarded the ship. That's  _definitely_ not normal, especially for you."

Magilou chuckled, shoving all of her previous thoughts away.  _I don't care. Never have, never will._ "Can't a girl get lost in her thoughts once or twice without people thinking she's sick? Really, Rokurou. I thought you were above such assumptions of my character." 

"I guess so. My apologies," Rokurou turned towards Magilou, taking a step back to then bow in a flourish, his right hand placed on his chest while his left flew up as he lowered his torso. "I never met to offend you,  _princess._ "

"Ha! This daemon's got a sharp tongue to match his sharp swords!" Magilou laughed. "Look at you, retorting my jabs! And here I thought you were a brainless jumble of muscle. What a pleasant surprise. Now, all we need is Velvet on board this boat— ship, now that I think about it— of light-heartedness, and we'll be on our way! Hell, maybe I'll host a show with you or her. 'Magilou's Menagerie.'"  _Now, wouldn't that be ironic?_ "Speaking of, she's totally mama bear-ing on that Malak. What's up with that?"

"Dunno. Definitely wasn't expecting the extra baggage, though. He seems kind of... broken." Both turned to stare at Number Two and Velvet, uncaring about whether or not it was considered rude.

"Well, that's because the idiots in the Abbey take away the individual will of their Malakhim. That way, it's easier for them to be ordered around. To the exorcists, their Malakhim are just mindless slaves to live, fight, and die for their masters. Nothing more, nothing less. Such a cruel, cruel world, isn't it?" Magilou smirked, lifting her hands to give her trademark shrug. "Poor Number Two over there got the same treatment every Malakhim gets when they're tethered to an exorcist in the Abbey. And tethered at such a young age, too. Such a shame."

"You know, you could at least  _try_ to sound a little sympathetic," Rokurou responded, shaking his head. "It's easy for even me to tell that you're not being genuine at all. And I'm not that smart when it comes to reading people, emotion-wise."

"Yes, well. If I cared, then that would be breaking my creed. That's speaking your language, right, samurai boy?" Magilou hummed, tilting her head slightly to the side. "And besides, what benefit  _would_ there be if I sympathized with the enslaved Malakhim? Would you rather me be shedding a tear or two like that crybaby exorcist back in Hellawes?" Magilou added, jutting a thumb backward. "I mean, I  _could_. It would just be  _really_ fake."

Rokurou shrugged. "I feel like you should, anyway. Make it loud enough to where Velvet can hear—"

"What, so she can snap at me for being an obnoxious brat?" Magilou paused, then smirked. "Wanna make a bet? Fifty gald says that she reacts just like I said she would. Insulting me somehow, even though she's the same way."

"You're on," Rokurou grinned, extending his hand so Magilou could shake it. "Also, you have really tiny hands."

"Maybe your hands are just really big, buddy," Magilou retorted with ease, winking at Rokurou. "Well. Ahem."

_Time to get thrown off of a ship by a sassy she-daemon. But this is going to a piece of cake. Crying on command? Now that I can do._

Almost immediately, tears sprung from Magilou's eyes. She flourished her right hand up towards the sky, moving her left hand up to wipe away the tears. "Alas, Rokurou! Those  _poor_ Malakhim tethered to exorcists against their will! They have no wills of their own, no way to fight against their tyrannical, abusive owners!"  _Just like Magillanica._ "All they can do is follow the orders given to them," Magilou glanced at Number Two as she uttered the last few words of her sentence— the poor boy looked even more uncomfortable than usual— "even if it means killing themselves." From that, Magilou saw Velvet's eye twitch.  _Good_. "In the end, they're just puppets, with the exorcists pulling strings behind the scenes."  _And yet, Number Two was able to break free of an order that Teresa gave him._ "Taken and tethered at such young ages, so their wills are taken away easier. And they don't even have a choice! Those poor,  _poor_ slaves. I can't help but shed a tear—"

"Could you shut up and stop being obnoxious for once?" Velvet interrupted, glaring at Magilou. "Such an obnoxious brat..."

"Ha! How predictable!" Magilou cackled, leaning back on the railing behind her. "Well, Rokurou, guess you owe me that fifty gald, now."

Said samurai raised his hands in defeat, grinning and stepping back when Velvet stormed over to Magilou. "Predictable, huh? Then I guess I'm playing into your hand when I throw you off this fucking ship, huh?"

"Oh, Velvet! Have some shame, would you? Saying such  _vulgar_ things in front of that kid. He's probably been through so much, already." Magilou smiled innocently, then added, "You sure want to add more traumatizing stuff to that list," she scoffed, squawking when Velvet lifted her bony frame by her fur collar. "Hey! This fur was quite expensive, mind you! Bought it from a famous trader in Loegres, and he—"

"I couldn't give two shits about what that kid thinks about me throwing you off of this ship, nor do I give a shit about your expensive fur collar," Velvet growled, shoving Magilou further back until the backs of her legs hit the railing. "Just like you, I couldn't care less about a lot of the shit that happens to the people on this boat. I'm just—"

"'Using whatever tool you have at your disposal to get your revenge,' yeah, yeah," Magilou responded, using air quotes. "You've said that a lot, already. Kind of starting to get annoying."

"Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me," Velvet retorted with ease, and Magilou could feel the she-daemon's claws starting to pierce the skin on her neck. _Oh, for the love of— this is such a pain, figuratively and literally_. "Well? You want me to throw you off this ship or not, witch?"

"What is this, attempting to burn me at the stake, are you? Doesn't this usually come with a consensus with all people on board the ship?" Magilou raised an eyebrow. "Although I'd prefer not to be food for the fishies, my opinion probably doesn't matter to you, now does it?" 

"No, it doesn't, nor will it ever matter to me," Velvet smirked, then frowned, realizing that Magilou's blood was beginning to stain the tips of her bandages on her fingers. Clicking her tongue, the raven-haired daemon settled for whipping around and dropping the blonde witch on the floor of the ship, a glint of smugness in her eyes as Magilou yelped when her ass hit the wooden floor. "You're really starting to get on my nerves, witch."

"Really? I didn't notice," Magilou huffed, lifting herself from the floor of the ship. "What with all our calm conversations and such. Can't you learn to take a joke every once in a while, Miss Daemon-Hellbent-on-Revenge-for-Whatever-Reason?"

"I'll learn to take a joke when the jester on this ship gets her skull crushed by my hands," Velvet muttered, already walking away with her back turned. 

It was silent for a few beats, aside from the ocean breeze and the... ocean in general. Then, Rokurou piped up. "You know, Magilou, you're a real dumbass."

Magilou shrugged. 

"You do still owe me that fifty gald, though."


	4. Chapter 4

Magilou was more or less bored while she was onboard the Van Eltia. The crewmates were amusing, sure, but they didn’t last long enough to where it lasted her the entire time from waiting for that group of morons to finish up with taking over the huge-ass gate that was in their way to…

Them getting on their way to the gate so the rest of the group of morons could haul ass back onto the ship.

But _oh._

Magilou was not expecting to get ammo on Velvet so soon.

 _“LAPHICET!”_ She’d yelled while Number Two was falling, practically to his death. Of course, that wouldn’t have happened, because the ship was still underneath him, and he would’ve fallen at a velocity to where either Eizen or Rokurou or… the ship could’ve caught him.

And he would’ve lived.

But that _exasperation_. That _sheer_ and _utter_ _panic_ behind Velvet’s words.

Magilou couldn't have been more ecstatic. 

It sounded like she’d broke.

And break, did she. _Did she._  Damn right she did. Magilou had a knack for reading people, and someone as obviously broken and bruised and beaten as someone like Velvet?

Talk about an _open book_.

Rokurou had seen the glint of pure euphoria in Magilou’s eyes, and he knew. Mr. Thick-Headed had figured out what Magilou was going to do and shook his head. He mouthed a firm “No” and the look in his eye _meant it._  “ _Don’t push on this one. We all heard what her voice sounded like, and we all know that saying that ‘Laphicet’ was his name now was just an excuse so no one continued to push. Don’t be the one to break Velvet.”_

Magilou had simply smiled innocently.

Rokurou knew that he’d lost.

When they dispersed to go about their business, the daemon samurai had passed Magilou and whispered, “Your funeral,” in her ear. The blonde witch grinned in delight at the sound of that proposition.

 _Her funera_ _l?_

She couldn’t _wait._

Throughout the entirety of the rest of that day, Magilou kept the she-daemon in her sights, as much as she physically could without being too suspicious. Velvet still noticed the blonde stalking her around the ship, but said nothing, at least for the first few hours.

… And then Magilou followed Velvet to her room.

“... What the fuck are you doing, Magilou?”

The witch gasped, hand jumping up to her heart. “My! Such language from a young girlie like you. Didn’t your parents ever teach you to watch your tongue?”

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to be such an obnoxious bitch?” Velvet snapped in response, continuing to walk towards her room. “Can’t you just go fuck off somewhere else, specifically where I’m _not_? I’d really appreciate it—”

“Oh, please. I know you _enjoy_ my company—”

“Enjoy?” Velvet scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“Ouch,” Magilou hissed, then clicked her tongue. “Well. Since you’re not in a good mood, I guess I’ll just take a hop, skip, and a jump to the point. Although I love foreplay, I can see when a girl’s getting impatient.” The witch paused, a smirk playing on her face. “Just like how I can see that you’re hiding something.”

Velvet visibly tensed up. _Bingo. How much can you take, girlie? I want to see you break. I want to see you even more reckless, even more spiteful, hateful. I want to see you loathe me._ “All of us are hiding things. Even you.”

“Who, me? I’m an open book, Velvet cake! A completely honest soul,” Magilou huffed, crossing her arms. She grinned when the corners of Velvet’s mouth turns slightly upward, if not for a split second. “But let’s be real here. I’m here about Number Two.”

“ _Laphicet_.”

“Pardon?” Magilou asked, innocently. _Just push the right buttons, Magilou, and you’ve got yourself an enraged teenage girl with major flashback and just… issues, period._

“His name is Laphicet, _not_ Number Two.” Velvet emphasized, her voice firm.

“Yeah, yeah. A name that you gave him in a shock-induced flashback.” The raven-haired woman tensed even further, her hands clenched by her sides. _There we go. Unfurl your wings, daemon girl. I’ve got all night._ “From that reaction, I wasn’t far off, was I?”

“ _Drop it_ , Magilou,” Velvet responded, her voice now a low growl. “Before I do something that I won’t regret.”

“If you’re not going to regret it, then why not do it? It’s not like you’re going to lose anything if I die, right? I’m just a poor, annoying witch that no one honestly listens to. My words go in one ear and out the other. Right, Velvet? You don’t care about me. You don’t care about what happens to anyone on this ship, right?” When Velvet’s fists didn’t unclench, Magilou pushed further. She gasped, covering her mouth in mock surprise. “Oh! Unless… my, my. Does this heartless daemon actually have a heart that’s still capable of love, compassion, and affection? This story continues to have its twists and turns, hm? Now, I wonder who caused this change in our lovely token daemon girl?”

“ _Magilou_.”

“Now, using my _lovely_ deduction skills, it wasn’t Rokurou, myself— unfortunately— _or_ Eizen. It was only after a certain event—”

“Empyreans above, if you say another fucking word—”

“— after a certain _Malak_ joined our crew. A boy, as cute as a button.”

Velvet spun, pure rage enveloped in her every movement. Even as she screamed “ _MAGILOU!”_ in a blind rage, all the blonde could do was wait in anticipation. _Quiver_ with excitement. This is what she’d wanted. How easy it was, to push someone off the edge when they heard something that they didn’t want to.

In this case, Magilou concluded as she was grabbed by the throat and slammed into the nearest wall, Velvet was enraged by the truth.

The truth.

Funny.

Of course, Magilou reacted accordingly when one gets slammed into a wall. She grunted in pain, attempted to blink away the black dots that danced across her vision, as one does. Velvet’s grip on her throat lessened. _Oh, what a real softie we have here._  “Well, that was a little rough, wasn’t it? That’s alright, we can work on your technique at a later date.”

“What the _fuck_ is your problem?” Velvet growled through gritted teeth. “I think that I’m able to tolerate you for more than five seconds, and then you yap on and on until I want to fucking shut you up on my own.”

“Well, my dear, there are definitely nicer ways of shutting me up than this,” Magilou retorted, motioning between Velvet and herself, “but I will say that I can’t _not_ enjoy this. Pinned to a wall by a hottie like yourself? I’m not in a dream, am I?” The blonde pinched herself for extra emphasis. “Whew! _Yeouch._ Yep, not dreaming.”

“I—”

“So, what’s next in this steamy dreamboat adventure, hm?” Magilou smirked. “You choke me to death right here, right now? Or maybe you crush my skull with that good ole’ daemon hand of yours? Unless you want me to live through some excruciating pain— and, between you and me, I’d prefer that one— and stand by you for the rest of your journey, the fear of a truly enraged daemon instilled in my poor, weak heart?” Magilou hummed, grinning at Velvet’s confused face. At that opening, she simply plucked the human hand around her throat and let it drop next to Velvet’s side.

“Well! That was what I wanted, so I’ll be taking my leave. Toodles—”

_Oh, of course that’s not how this isn’t going to end, huh?_

For the second time that night, Magilou was slammed into a wall. This time, she yelped in pain. _Well, isn’t this girl a bucket of surprises?_   “ _Velvet!_ Seriously? What is—”

“Can’t you just _shut the fuck up_ for _five seconds?_ ” Velvet snapped, her daemon arm’s claws digging slightly into the flesh of Magilou’s shoulder. “Listen here, you fucking dipshit. I am _done_ with dealing with your stupid fucking snarky shit and even dumber comebacks. I thought that I could tolerate you, but you are coming up with more and more surprises by the damn second, and I do _not_ enjoy surprises.”

“Well—”

Velvet interrupted the blonde by slamming her back into the wall again. That time, Magilou heard wood splinter slightly. _Woohoo_. “I said shut up, didn’t I? Talk back and I’ll kill you right here, right now. And I’m not fucking around this time.”

When Magilou kept her mouth shut, but had her trademark smirk on her lips, Velvet decided that punching the blonde in the gut would do her enough for that night; however, when she wound up to punch Magilou…

She simply stared in anticipation, the same smug look on her face. “I’m just playing right into your hand, aren’t I?” Velvet asked, dropping her hand.

“Oh, maybe just a little bit, but don’t get too bent out of shape because of that fact! I’ll _totally_ still take that punch. Maybe even a slap on the face. Or you could surprise everyone and take me into a hot, steamy kiss—”

Velvet was satisfied with the resounding _CLAP!_ that her hand made when slapping Magilou’s face.

Did her hand sting? Yes.

Was it a good kind of pain?

 _Damn right_.

* * *

 

After that, Magilou seemed to have eased off on the obnoxious personality. Velvet was grateful for that, because what she’d said the night before _really_ pissed her off. The blonde was lucky enough to get off with just a light choking and a hard slap in the face.

There was a part of Velvet that felt utter joy in seeing Magilou suffer like that. Hearing her grunt in pain, and seeing that smug, shit-eating grin disappear for a few seconds.

She could get used to beating Magilou up. But she wouldn’t because she’s not a _monster_.

Well.

Not _entirely_ . She wouldn’t beat up Magilou whenever she was stressed out over practically everything and then some. She deserves a good slap in the face whenever she presses Velvet’s buttons. But only when she pushes too far.Velvet’s been through a lot— she’ll admit that her temper is short and she doesn’t like dealing with idiots at _all_ — so of course there’s going to be a good few times when she snaps at someone.

Magilou just decided that she’d be the one taking the majority of the punches.

So, when Velvet couldn’t sleep after having a bad nightmare(she was starting to realize that she’d have a nightmare practically every damn night), she left her room to get some fresh air. Better to get moving rather than brood in her room.

She didn’t like brooding in her room. Alone. Because then there are times where she loses focus and gets flashbacks to the nightmare that she just had, and seeing Laphicet’s lifeless face is not one that Velvet likes to see more than she has to.

And she’s seen it a lot.

When she got to the main floor of the ship, she was only expecting the Van Eltia sentries doing their routes around the ship.

She was not expecting Magilou to be staring out at the sea, head resting in her hands, elbows on the railing of the ship. The blonde had a distant look in her eyes— they looked dimmer than their usual bright green.

Why the hell did she look so _sad?_

“Although I appreciate the staring, Velvet, I don’t think you came up here to stare at my beautiful figure all night up until the asscrack of dawn,” Magilou piped up, a smirk painted on her lips. “Would you like to join me? We’ll brood together on this lovely night.” The blonde moved one of her hands to motion at the empty space beside her.

“Why are _you_ awake? I thought you loved your beauty sleep,” Velvet simply responded, taking her spot a foot or two away from Magilou.

“Yes, well. Someone like me who’s already perfect doesn’t need all that beauty sleep, you know?” Magilou laughed drily, eyes still watching the horizon. “Did you think I slept after you slapped me in the face? Maybe for a little bit. But I prefer to sit out here. It’s calmer than any—” the blonde took a sharp intake of breath, tensing. “Whoops.”

“... Nightmares?” Velvet finished, her eyes also staring out at sea. “Why do you think I’m out here, Magilou? Just to stare at the sea and make conversation with the most annoying bitch on this damn ship?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m the most annoying—”

“Don’t,” Velvet snapped. “Not right now. I get that you don’t want to talk about anything that requires you being serious for at least one second, but I’m tired and throwing you off of this ship would take too much fucking energy that I don’t want to waste.”

At that, Magilou chuckled. “I could throw myself off of this ship and you wouldn’t give two shits—”

“Do you hate yourself, Magilou?” Velvet interrupted again. “Is that why you’re the pathetic comedic relief of this group? Because you’re not good for anything else other than a pity laugh or two?”

There was silence. Then, Magilou muttered, “Well, that’s not very nice of you to say, dear. What if I was genuinely suicidal and that pushed me off the edge? What if I just—” To emphasize, Magilou hopped over the railing, her hands clutched against the wood, feet resting in between the pegs.

It was funny when she realized that only one hand was on the railing, and the other was held by Velvet’s. Well, more or less her wrist being held in an iron-tight grip.

“So you _do_ care,” Magilou smirked, the normal brightness in her green eyes returning. “And here I thought that I was just going to become your punching bag. Did all the gay-gay stuff I said last night get to your head, Velvet cake? I mean, I wouldn’t mind knowing what it’s like to—” After seeing the way that Velvet was glaring at the blonde, she cut herself off. “Right. Serious conversation.”

“Jump back over the railing, dipshit,” Velvet sighed, tugging on Magilou’s wrist for emphasis. When the blonde complied, Velvet dropped her hand. “You’ve got to be real fucking stupid to pull something like that.”

“Yes, well. I was probably dropped a lot as a baby.”

After that, there was a long silence between the two. It wasn’t awkward— not for Velvet, at least. The two of them just continued to stare at the horizon, listening in on conversations that some of the Van Eltia crew were having, or just paying attention to where their footsteps were falling.

_This is actually the longest I’ve ever been able to tolerate Magilou. Something must be really wrong with me. Or her. Or both of us. What the fuck?_

“When we get to Loegres, I’ll probably be separating from you all for a little bit again. Like I did back in Hellawes. The search for my traitor still continues, and it’ll be easier to find that moron if I’m alone and… not burdened by the rest of the group.” Velvet looked at Magilou that time. The blonde glanced at the she-daemon before her eyes focused back on the ocean in front of her. “It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. Without that idiot, I’m useless to you, anyway. As you said, all I’m good for is comedic relief.”

“You can handle yourself. You survived being slammed into a wall by yours truly, so,” Velvet shrugged. “Don’t worry, princess. If you need rescuing, I’ll be able to single out your obnoxious whining and screaming.”

Magilou looked at Velvet and grinned.

“Can’t wait to have you save me, my knight in shining armor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)  
> you got a little taste of fluff.  
> live off of that for as long as you can, because it ain't popping back up anytime soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Velvet was distracted ever since they got to Loegres. Whether that be from Magilou’s personality, the stress of being a highly suspicious character in the capital, AKA exorcist territory, and the fact that Artorius was literally  _ so _ close that she could genuinely try to kill him —

But she knew she wasn’t the only one.

All of them were nervous about being in Loegres. Even Magilou.

Rokurou and Laphicet didn’t notice. They were none the wiser to Magilou’s change in personality. But Velvet noticed. She seemed… nicer. Yes, her “Act Like a Dove” scenario saved their asses, but there was something that changed in the way that she acted after she said a particular name.

“Magilou’s Menagerie.” Velvet thought that she was just seeing things, but the darkening of her eyes, the smile— the  _ smile _ on her face.

There was something behind that reaction. Velvet didn’t know if she should attempt to pry so the witch could get a taste of her own medicine, or if she should just let it slide. Velvet wasn’t used to seeing the “bubbly, comedian” Magilou have such a dark look on her face. She was never serious.

She was  _ never _ serious.

Magilou’d barely been serious when they were talking on the Van Eltia. She couldn’t even admit to the fact that the real reason she was out looking at the sea like that was that she’d had a  _ nightmare _ . Velvet had to say the damned word because that stupid blonde  _ couldn’t! _ It was infuriating— no,  _ she _ was infuriating. Sometimes Magilou was tolerable, Velvet would admit to that— but then she’d do a complete 180 and push Velvet’s buttons to the point where she wants to strangle the damn blonde!  _ Yes _ , the she-daemon fell for her stupid tricks, but it was only because she dug deep, got underneath Velvet’s skin. If it were Rokurou that was saying all that dumb bullshit, then she wouldn’t care. If it were  _ Eizen _ saying any of that stuff, she wouldn’t give a damn. 

Laphicet was… he wouldn’t. He doesn’t have a single mean bone in his body, that boy. Even if he  _ tried _ to say something mean, he’d probably break down crying and start apologizing immediately after.

_ Damnit,  _ why was she still thinking about that stupid blonde?

The raven-haired daemon shook her head, then continued walking. Thank the Empyreans that she was by herself, and this late at night, too. It gave her time to think. To toss away unneeded baggage that weighed on her shoulders. For example, being concerned about Magilou. She could handle herself. Sure, she was Malak-less, but—

Velvet groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. Stupid, stupid,  _ stupid. _ Might as well try to think everything out and get it out of her system now, rather than get pissed off and punch a wall out of annoyance later or something.

Magilou had left somewhere between Velvet’s attempt to attack Artorious and the group heading towards the Bloodwing’s secret hideout. She’d disappeared for the rest of the day, and the group questioned nothing about the witch’s sudden disappearance — not even Laphicet, who seemed like he’d question where Magilou went. 

Velvet knew that the blonde was looking for her Malak, but that was it. It still brought up a good few questions, though. For example:

Why didn’t Magilou find another Malak?

Why did her Malak leave in the first place? To tie in with that, why does Magilou call her Malak a “traitor?”

…  _ Who the hell was Magilou, in the first place? _

“Gald for your thoughts, Velvet?” An obnoxiously familiar voice asked, and Velvet simply wanted to turn around and punch Magilou straight in the nose. “Looks like a certain girlie has a lot on that mind of hers. Oh! Are you reconsidering taking the jobs that the Bloodwings gave you? My, my, I didn’t take you as one who went back on your word! Between you and me, the Bloodwings are  _ not _ fun enemies to have. They have eyes everywhere—”

“Who are you?”

Magilou paused, then frowned. “I’m Magilou.”

“No. Who  _ are _ you, really?”

“... Magilou?”

“Empyreans above— I  _ know _ you’re Magilou, but—”

“Then that’s it! I’m Magilou, you’re Velvet, and we’re Magilou and Velvet in Loegres.” The blonde spun on her heel, facing away from Velvet. “Right?”

“Bullshit.”

“ _ Not _ , actually. If I smelled like bullshit, I would know, but I like to keep myself quite clean. Personal hygiene is quite important, you know. To me, at least—”

“You’re not ‘just Magilou.’ You’re not ‘some witch.’ It’d be easier if you answered my question, so—”

“Not gonna happen, sweetcheeks. What, do you think that I’m some sort of spy for the exorcists? Trust me; they wouldn’t send someone like me. They’d send someone prim and proper and  _ trustworthy. _ I was thrown into jail, remember? You know, the same jail that you were held in? The most defended place for criminals,  _ Titania _ ? Ring a bell?”

“You’re—”

“And when have  _ you _ ever cared about other people and their pasts, Velvet? Growing soft, are we? And this soon, too?” Magilou laughed drily, turning back to face the she-daemon. “And here I thought you were some stone cold daemon out for blood— the sweet, sweet taste of revenge.  _ Vengeance _ . Did you lose your brain with your sense of taste, too? Or have you grown even dumber since this morning when you tried to go for Artorius, knowing that the possibilities of you actually getting to him were slim? Practically  _ nonexistent _ ?”

“Magilou—”

“Don’t think that I haven’t put two and two together about  _ you _ , Velvet. The real reason why you took Number Two— oh, my bad,  _ Laphicet _ — along because he reminds you of your dead brother. The one that Artorius killed, right? You  _ poor _ thing.” Velvet’s fists were clenched, but she hadn’t moved towards or away from Magilou. “Wow! I’m impressed; this is the longest you’ve ever lasted when it comes to me trying to get you to break! And here I thought that, after everything that’s happened today, you’d be raring to go to punch me in the face.”

Velvet said nothing in response.

“Giving me the silent treatment, huh? Well, that stings. Probably not as much as seeing your brother get killed in front of your very eyes, though.” A sharp intake of breath and Velvet took a step forward. Then another.

“Good girl. You’re not strong enough to go against that lovely feeling, are you? You’re a monster designed for killing. For  _ destroying _ anything that’s in your path. Why should a human girl such as me be any different? You’ve killed Malakhim. You’ve killed daemons. You’ve killed exorcists, too. What’s stopping you from killing me, then?”

“You’re asking for it,” Velvet responded with gritted teeth. “When someone asks for death, I don’t like completing the request.” She could hear her heart beating in her ears, the blood rushing like a flooded river. Her daemon arm was quivering, throbbing, waiting for when Velvet finally lost the rest of her control and gave into the rage. “I don’t want to give you what you want—”

“Oh, I don’t need you to kill me. Just seeing that fire of loathing in your eyes is plenty of fun for me. By the way, how do you think Laphicet would feel if I told him that he was named after your dead brother? That he’s only a replacement that you barely care about, anyway—”

_ CRACK! _

After punching Magilou in the face, Velvet followed the blonde, shoving her further back, so she stumbled and fell. “There it is,” Magilou forced out, clutching her broken and bleeding nose. “Knew you’d come through, coo-coo.”

Velvet forced Magilou up by her collar just to punch her again. “Fuck you. You can sit out here and rot, for all I care.”

“Gladly. I’ll see you in the morning, sweetcheeks.”

The raven-haired daemon stomped away, leaving Magilou to lie on the ground, blood caked on her face and hand. “Hope you sleep well, Velvet!” Magilou called, the hand that wasn’t pinching her nose waving in the air. 

All she got in response was an annoyed scoff.

_ That’s a new record for you though, Velvet! You should be proud of how violent you got with me this time around. Two punches  _ and _ shoving me to the ground, so I fell?  _ Magilou grinned, pushing herself up from the cold brick that she’d been lying on for the last minute or two. She rotated herself to where she could see Velvet walking back to the Bloodwing Bar, fists still clenched.  _ Funny how she said that she wouldn’t give in, and then not even five minutes later did she punch me in the face.  _

_ … Damn, this hurts. _

True to her word, Magilou was sitting at one of the tables on the first floor of the Bloodwing Bar, getting healed by Laphicet. Before Velvet had walked all the way down the stairs, she eavesdropped on their conversation.

After her incident with Laphicet where she—

… Of course he’ll probably hide behind Magilou or either of the boys until they made up, somehow. 

“What  _ really _ happened, Magilou? You said that you just fell down, but I know that’s not true. You—”

“Fell. I fell, and that’s all there is to it, kiddo. Although I love the concern, all you gotta do is heal my nose, and we’re done here. How’s your throat, by the way? It’s still a little bruised from what happened right? And you’re not telling me what happened there, but I think I have a vague idea of what happened.” 

Laphicet didn’t respond. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, kiddo.” A pause, then Magilou spoke up again. 

“Good morning, by the way, Velvet cake.” The blonde grinned when Velvet came into view, glaring at Magilou and avoiding eye contact with Laphicet. “Are we waiting for the boys to wake up and then we’re heading out on the first assignment? Or are you going to lone wolf it?”

“Not like you’d be any help in a fight,  _ witch _ ,” Velvet spat out in response, heading straight for the door. “Tell them that I’ll be waiting outside. If they take too long, then I  _ will _ take on the job by myself.”

“Oh, scary. What’re you going to do, choke all of your enemies to death?” That earned a shocked gasp and a quiet “Magilou!” from Laphicet.

“Depends. Do you want me to kick your ass like I did last night and choke  _ you _ to death?” Velvet deadpanned, her hand still on the doorknob. “If you ask nicely, maybe I might even consider.”

“And here I thought that you didn’t like giving people death if they ask for it, Velvet,” Magilou hummed, smirking when Velvet met her gaze again. It was a standstill, and neither of them moved for a good minute.

… Until Velvet scoffed, pushed open the door, and slammed it shut behind her.

“That’s what I thought, girlie.” Magilou grinned.  _ You’ve only won one of our little stand-offs, and out of how many? And even then, you only won because you beat the shit out of me. Is that even a victory? In the end, you still lost because you gave in to temptation and punched me in the face. _ The blonde looked down at Laphicet, who looked like he was about to combust. “It’s pointless to worry, kiddo. After she kills a baddie or five, she’ll get that anger worked out faster than Granny Bloodwing can cook you up some Mabo curry.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about Velvet,” Laphicet began, shaking his head, “I was more or less worried that she was going to beat you up.”

Magilou pouted, crossing her arms. “I can defend myself against her, thank you very much, Laphicet.”

“I’m sure you can, but Velvet is really strong.”

“... And I’m not?”

Magilou gave up resisting Rokurou’s iron grip after they were on their way back to Loegres. “So, that was your Malak, huh? He’s about as funny looking as you are, Magilou.” The daemon samurai dropped Magilou from his shoulder, and she caught herself after stumbling a little. “Didn’t seem too happy to see you, though.”

“Yes, well. You win some, and you lose some, samurai boy,” Magilou responded, resting her hands behind her head. “Besides, it’s not a concern for me. I’ll get Bienfu back eventually, and that’s all that matters to me.”  _ He seemed terrified to see me, more or less. Ha! And he was the only one really keeping me going back when I was with the Menagerie. All these years, and yet he looked at me like I was a stranger. A dangerous stranger. _ Magilou laughed to herself.  _ Stranger danger. _

After that, the group finished the other two jobs in the span of three days, with Magilou out on the hunt for Bienfu while Velvet and the rest took care of the Nectar jobs. In those three days, the crybaby exorcist— Eleanor, her name was— was nowhere to be found, so Magilou assumed that she was either assigned somewhere else and left Loegres, or she was frolicking about in the castle, as an exorcist does.

_ “Did you hear?” A gossiping exorcist says as Magillanica’s about to pass them by, back ramrod straight and eyes forward, pretending as if she didn’t hear anything that her fellow exorcists were saying about her. “Melchior’s kid has the strength of a Legate, now. Seems pretty suspicious to me, considering that she only has one Malak, but who are we to question the ranks of others, right?” _

_ “She’s not really Melchior’s kid, is she?” _

_ “From what I heard, she was picked up from the Menagerie. You remember the ‘Witch?’ Apparently, that’s her.” After a few scattered gasps, the main gossiper laughs. “Yeah. Isn’t that freaky? Wasn’t there a rumor passed around that she was subject to brutal torture? And that her parents abandoned her because of her high resonance to Malakhim?” _

_ “Damn, that’s fucked up. Is that why Melchior took pity on her? How old is she, fourteen? She looks pretty young.” _

_ “That wouldn’t add up. She has to be older than that, right?” _

_ When Magillanica puts more force into her step as she walks down the hallway, the group of exorcists is as quiet as the dead. She slows but doesn’t stop entirely, glancing in their direction and saying, “You really shouldn’t gossip in these hallways. They echo quite terribly, you know.” _

_ With that, she picks her pace back up, leaving those morons who were wasting their time even further to burn with embarrassment for being caught gossiping. _

_ Bienfu then appears, floating by her side. “Miss Magillanica, I’m—” _

_ “There’s no need for you to apologize on behalf of others, Bienfu,” Magillanica smiles softly. “I’ve heard worse about myself, so it’s fine. Their words don’t affect me in the slightest. Besides, they’re only envious because of how easily I’ve risen in the ranks. Magillanica Lou Mayvin is a powerful, young exorcist who grew to the rank of Legate in the Abbey at the tender age of… young.” The blonde laughs, shaking her head. “Not like I’m going to age, anyway.” Not after the ritual Melchior put me through, Magillanica added, silently. _

_ “M-Miss Magillanica! I thought you said that these hallways echo! What if someone hears you…?”  _

_ “Hm? Oh, that was partially true. I just have a good sense of hearing, Bienfu. No need for you to be so blue.” Magillanica grins, pulling Bienfu’s hat down further the normin yelled in surprise, stuttering in his floating to fix his hat. “Now, we’ve got work to do and barely enough time to do it! You ready to stay awake until dawn again, my partner in crime?” _

_ “Of course! Anything for you, Miss Magillanica!” _

And, oh, how gullible Magillanica was. 

And how gullible Magilou  _ wasn’t _ . She wouldn’t let anyone take advantage of her like so many did with Magillanica. That young, sweet girl was pulverized by the pressure of disgusting illusions of happiness.

Magilou only pretended to be happy because it was easier to smile all the time. No one asked what was wrong if you were the token comedian with a grin on your face all the time. No one wonders what demons are hiding behind that mask, and it’s not like anyone cares to ask, anyway.

Not before, not now, not ever.

Never, ever, ever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is already written out(thanks to me staying up until 5AM writing it to completion), and it's also REALLY long compared to the other chapters, so hope you're prepared! Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is really freaking long...

“Velvet, not to be the one who crashes your revenge party, but you’re not prepared to take on Artorius. You’re not even close to his strength. Even then, when we’re all put together, Artorius is too strong. You of all people should know that.” 

It was the night before they were planning on invading the Empyrean’s Throne. Now that Magilou had Bienfu back, the blonde was of actual use in a fight.

(And, after she’d reformed her pact with Bienfu and blasted that group of exorcists and their Malakhim away, she grinned at a surprised Velvet, and boasted about her usefulness on their way back.) 

“Velvet, I have the power equal of a Legate. Have you ever fought against one before?” Velvet shook her head. “Well, you’d get your ass handed to you. Especially with one who deals in close combat, like you. Shigure would kick your ass. And Melchior…”

_“Welcome home, Magillanica,” her mother had said, gesturing with her free hand to the home in front of us. “This is where you’ll live. After all these years of you away from us, you’ll finally have a place that you can call home.” Magillanica stood hand in hand with her parents, grinning ear to ear. She never wanted it to end._

_And that’s when the illusion shattered around her, and Magillanica realized her greatest mistake yet: Trusting Melchior Mayvin._

“You wouldn’t last even five seconds against Melchior.”

“... And how do  _you_ know all of these things?” Velvet asked, her arms crossed. “I knew you had some sort of affiliation with the Abbey, but there’s—”

“All you need to know is that you’re not going to come out of the Empyrean’s Throne alive, Velvet. I’m just here to give you the information that the Bloodwings aren’t. But,” Magilou raised her hand to stop Velvet from interrupting, “I don’t care about what you think about anything that I just said. I don’t care if you have your suspicions about me, and it doesn’t matter to me if you kill me right here, right now. Bienfu’s in Laphicet’s room giving him advice on getting a girlfriend or whatever, so you have a definite chance of killing me. I won’t even fight back.”

“Magilou. What you say won’t change the fact that I’m going to try and kill Artorius tomorrow. I couldn’t give two shits about your past, present, or future. As long as you help me in killing Artorius, it’d be a waste to kill you off just because you have a chance of being a traitor.” Velvet sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her right hand. “And why the  _hell_ is Bienfu such a—”

“Pervert? Weirdo? Masochistic moron that reminds you of an old man that’s never experienced true love, so he just tries to go for younger women in hopes of them being just as desperate as he is?” Magilou suggested, smirking. “I hate that part of him just as much as you do, Velvet cake. But he is my Malak, so I have to deal with him,” the blonde finished, shrugging.

There was a pause, then Velvet spoke. “So, even though you know that there’s a high chance that I’m going to die when we go to fight Artorius, you’re still going to help me? Doesn’t that also mean that you also have a chance of dying, Magilou?”

“Well,  _duh._ Velvet, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have  _nothing_ better to do other than risk my life in fights with the Abbey. Now that Bienfu is back with me, I’m just here to stir up trouble with my favorite daemon girl. After all, it isn’t Magilou’s Menagerie without Magilou, right, coo coo?”

“You’re a real piece of work, witch.”

“Oh, you know me. Magilou: extraordinary beauty, and a true work of art that men and women alike enjoy looking at,” the blonde winked, blowing a kiss towards Velvet. When the raven-haired daemon simply rolled her eyes, Magilou pouted. “What, no snappy comeback to break this frail heart of mine? Are you  _sure_ that you’re not nervous about going up against Artorius and the rest of the Abbey tomorrow? Now, remember what I said, Velvet: if you  _do_ face off against our one-armed sheepherder, he’s going to send you to hell and then some. So! How’s about we take a little raincheck until we can get stronger, and—”

“You sure that  _you’re_ not afraid of what’s going to happen tomorrow?”

“Why, of _course_  I’m terrified!” Magilou sighed, placing a hand on her chest. “Velvet, I’m a mere mortal. A pawn in this game of life! I wanted to die when I was of old age, when I’d lived my life to the fullest and completed everything there was to complete! Marrying my sweetheart, traveling the world with them, the works! And now I’m doomed to meet my fate with a daemon who couldn’t care less about my well-being and the rest of her goons! A daemon that follows her orders blindly, a boy Malak who was freed from the Abbey only to have been dropped in the clutches of a vicious she-daemon, and the Reaper! Who will lessen our chances of survival just by being in the same room as us, no less.

“The horror of realizing that my death is only a few hours away, and I’m to spend them with you and the boys? Gah! What could I have done in my short life to deserve a fate as cruel as this! Velvet, you are the only one to blame for my horrible luck! Repent! Repent, you shameless daemon so that I can live yet another day after tomorrow!”

Velvet had been standing there, watching Magilou’s speech with a glint of amusement and a hint of a smile on her face. “And what am I supposed to repent for, witch? You  _were_ the one who tagged along and escaped Titania with me. Couldn’t you have just stayed on that island and rotted there? I wouldn’t have cared if you did, but I don’t think I have to keep telling you that.”

“Ugh, and even though I was the first in this group that you truly met, you still treat me with such disdain. Oh, how your cold personality gives me pain! Any more rude comments from you and my eyes might start to rain.”

“Alright, I’m going to sleep. Leave, or I’ll toss you out myself.” Velvet sighed, still amused slightly by Magilou’s antics. “Go on, shoo.” The she-daemon walked to grab Magilou by the shoulders and walk her to the door.

“Oh? Manhandling me, are we? My, my, Velvet! I thought you’d learned after the first time, but, really, who am I to blame you? I am  _quite_ the bewitching witch, aren’t I? Have to force me out before I enchant you with my charm, right?” Magilou grinned, yelping as Velvet pushed her out the door. “H-hey, wait! I thought we were sharing a room!”

Velvet paused. Then, she looked Magilou straight in the face, maintaining eye contact while she shut the door.

Slowly.

Magilou should’ve taken it as a joke. She could’ve easily taken it as a joke. She would laugh it off, or whine and beg to be let back in because she was _not_ sleeping with the boys in their room. It would’ve been easy.

So then why did she—

_“Magillanica, you’ve failed me.” Melchior sighs, a barely audible sympathy hidden behind his monotonous, uncaring tone. “You do not have what it takes to be my successor. Although you could surpass me in strength with ease in a few years of practice, you are no longer welcome on exorcist grounds.”_

_“... Melchior? W-what do you mean?” Magillanica asks, her voice shaking. “I… I went through the illusion, just like you said to, right? So then why are you talking like I failed? How did I—”_

_Oh. The realization strikes her like a punch to the gut. She wasn’t supposed to have a happy ending with her family. Magillanica was supposed to realize that what was happening in that illusion wasn’t real, and she had to break out of it to pass Melchior’s test._

_And she did— she knew that it wasn’t real because her village was destroyed years ago and so her parents were most likely dead and yet she just continued on with the illusion because she didn’t care. She didn’t care if it wasn’t real because it felt real. The illusion was so disgustingly realistic that it was as if Magillanica could actually feel the love that her “parents” had for her in that illusion, but it wasn’t. They didn’t love her. They’d abandoned her._

_She failed._

_“It seems you’ve realized your mistake, from the look on your face.” Melchior shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Magillanica. You’ve failed me, and the rest of the Abbey. You are to gather your things and leave the premises immediately.”_

_“What…? Can I not have another chance? Melchior, I’m your student! You’ve spent all these years teaching me powerful artes, raising me to be on equal ground of a Legate such as yourself, and now you just toss me aside like a broken toy!? Do you have any idea how much of a setback that is for yourself? What other exorcist is here that you can discipline and strengthen as much as you did with me!? I—”_

_“That’s enough. I’m through with attempting to reason with you, Magillanica, and that is—”_

_“What did you expect me to do, Melchior? I was abandoned by my parents as soon as they realized that I could see things that they couldn’t. Back before everyone could see Malakhim, I was a cursed kid! My parents despised the fact that I had high resonance and didn’t know what to do with me, so they abandoned me to be food for the wolves or money for the bandits!_

_“And yet I was given the worst possible outcome and got thrown into the Menagerie, where I was tossed around like a ragdoll and treated like a freak! Controlling Malakhim that no one else in the audience could see, raking in as much cash as I could with so many different tricks, it made my head spin! And even then, it was never enough for them. They beat me, whipped me, tortured me, breaking my will so I would never dare to go against them._

_“I never did. Never! I was as loyal as I could’ve been, and the only reason I really stayed alive was because of Bienfu! And even then, I barely scraped by until that accident killed the entire damn troupe and you took me in. You saved me from an early death, you helped me become stronger and figure out what the hell my high resonance was about, and you— you called me your daughter! I—”_

_“You are no daughter of mine. You will be erased from the Abbey’s history. You, Magillanica Lou Mayvin, are a stranger. The next time I see you, we will be enemies.” Melchior walks to the door of Magillanica’s room, maintaining a straight face as he closes the door, slowly._

_Bienfu appears at Magillanica’s side, eyes wide with concern. “M-Miss Magillanica?”_

_Magillanica did not respond._

_She was broken once more._

Magilou sat in front of the door, taking shaky breaths.  _Why? Why are these stupid memories of hers haunting me, and now of all times? Empyreans above, just leave this poor witch alone!_

She heard the familiar footsteps of a normin coming her way and practically scrambled back into her’s and Velvet’s room. Now was not the time for Bienfu to realize that she’d just had a flashback and make a big deal about it like he usually does. That stupid normin was too oblivious to realize that if he made a scene about what’d just happened to Magilou, the rest of the group would know about her past. She wasn’t worried about them knowing, per se, but…

Magilou knew that they would change. Velvet might not, no, she wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about the blonde’s problems, but Laphicet would. Eizen would as well, and Rokurou, too. They’d put two and two together and realize that Magillanica was the reason why she was so guarded, so close and yet so distant. They’d realize that she was the way she was because she’d been pulverized to dust and ashes in the past and that Magilou was hellbent on making sure that it never happened again.

… But through her taking action without thinking, Magilou barreled into the room and, as she closed the door behind her, she turned to see a slightly concerned Velvet. The raven-haired daemon’s armor was all off and folded neatly on a bedside table, just in case they needed to head out immediately. 

Magilou was looking everywhere in the room except for where Velvet was standing.  _Damnit, Magilou! Think of something to say. Something smart, something witty, something to distract this stupid daemon, so she doesn’t ask about what the hell just happened! You can do better than this, for the love of—_

“Magilou.”

_Shit. Shit, it’s too late. She’s going to ask about what happened, and now I’m going to have to bullshit my way through it and joke about it. Empyreans above, this is the absolute worst time to be blocked from any of my usual creativity! Magilou, what the hell happened to your sharp tongue and stupid comebacks! Say something!_ “I—”

“If you’re going to go scrambling around like it’s the end of the world, at least keep quiet about it. You got me out of bed. I could’ve easily sliced your head off if I wanted to, you know,” Velvet sighed. When Magilou still stood in front of the door, the she-daemon raised an eyebrow. “You gonna sleep standing up or something?”

“More like I’m not going to sleep at all,” Magilou muttered under her breath, not caring if Velvet heard her or not at that point. “I’m going to head out for a walk. Make sure to get your beauty rest, alright? We are facing the big, bad Artorius tomorrow. You’re playing the starring role, Velvet. Best be prepared to shine in that spotlight.”

The raven-haired daemon waved her off as she closed the door, resting her head back on the pillow as Magilou closed the door. 

Just as she’d expected, Bienfu was waiting outside the door, rather nervously. “Miss Magilou! Are you alright? Did you—”

“Let’s go for a walk, Bienfu. A  _long_ walk.”

* * *

 

Velvet sat back up in her bed, listening as Bienfu’s squeaky footsteps and Magilou’s lowered voice slowly became more distant as they walked away and went downstairs. She wondered what set the blonde off to react in such a way. 

When Magilou had flung open the door like that, she looked like a deer caught in headlights when she made eye contact with Velvet, then immediately moved to look at literally everything else in the room except for the raven-haired daemon standing in front of her.  _She looked… terrified. Scared. That was the first time I’d ever seen her with a look like that on her face._

She didn’t see how Magilou reacted when Velvet had decided to not pry further into the subject of the blonde’s sudden panic, but she could tell that it was the right move. If she pried and pushed and prodded, Magilou probably would’ve been worse off than when she first walked into the room.

For the first time in the few months that they’d been together, Velvet finally saw the hidden part of Magilou. She  _knew_ that someone thrown into a prison-like Titania wouldn’t be so happy and bubbly without having a skeleton or two or…  _more_  hidden in that closet of hers. 

Velvet had a vague feeling that leaving Magilou to talk it out with Bienfu and work through whatever she had to work out was the best choice. She just hoped that Magilou would come back before they got to the Empyrean’s Throne. The blonde did say that she’d be back in the morning.

So, Velvet plopped herself back down on her bed, yawning.  _Magilou can take care of herself. She’ll be back._

… After a few minutes of trying to sleep, Velvet groaned. She tossed and turned, rolling around in her bed, trying to find a position that was comfortable enough to stay in. It was really starting to get annoying because, damnit she was supposed to be facing off against the man who killed her brother all those years ago, and  _now_ she couldn’t sleep because her body decided that it was time to feel completely and utterly awake and alert?

For the love of—

And then she heard rapid squeaking in the hallway, and then an aggressively light tapping on her door. Velvet bolted up for the second time that night, quickly putting on her armor and opening the door to find Bienfu, a panicked look in his eyes. “I- it’s Miss Magilou! She’s—”

Velvet bolted down the hallway and practically jumped over all of the stairs, scanning the room for the blonde witch. Bienfu wasn’t far behind. “She sent me here to get you, Miss Velvet! She’s still in the forest—”

“Wake up Laphicet. Tell him to get his ass in gear and take him to where Magilou is. You’re going to come after me after Laphicet’s awake. That’s an order.” When Bienfu nodded, Velvet ran to the door, flinging it open and not caring to shut it behind her. _That stupid witch. Why did she think it was a good idea to go out in the middle of the night to a place infested with monsters? Was she even thinking in the first place? I swear, Magilou, if you die then I’ll bring you back to life just to kill you all over again after I kill Artorius._

Velvet flew past guards with red scarves tied somewhere on their bodies, all of them either nodding or looking the other way as she passed by. She shoved the gates open, ignoring the normal guards asking her where she was going this late at night.

_Where the hell is she?_

“ _Bienfu!_ I swear to the Empyreans if you—  _gah!_ For crying out loud, give a girl some time to monologue before she meets her untimely demise!” The ground rumbled around Velvet’s feet as she sprinted to the source of all the ruckus. “Dangit, I’m not supposed to die  _here!_ I’m supposed to die with Velvet and that group of misfits—  _yeouch!_ You little—”

“ _Magilou!_ ” Velvet barreled towards the monster attacking Magilou— an ape daemon wielding an ax.  _That was the one that we saw earlier… Damnit, of all the daemons that had to attack this idiot, it had to be a Code Red…!_

“Velvet!? I thought you were getting your beauty sleep! What are you doing here!?” Magilou yelled as the she-daemon threw herself at the ape, who was damn near close to chopping one of Magilou’s limbs off.

“What the hell do you think  _you’re_ doing!?” Velvet snapped, dodging out of the swing of the ape’s ax. “Why did you think—” she moved under the daemon’s arm, slashing at its stomach— “it was a good idea to venture in a daemon-infested area at the asscrack of  _fucking_ dawn!?”

“What do you mean!? Did you think that I waltzed over to this bumbling baboon and  _asked_ him to beat the living shit out of me!? I might be dumb, Velvet, but I’m not  _that_ dumb!” Magilou cringed as Velvet almost got slashed, but the she-daemon blocked it with her gauntlet at the last second, grunting from the pressure of the ax _and_ the ape’s weight pressing on her.

“Seems to me that you’re—” another grunt as she successfully threw the ape off balance, then went in to strike at its arm— “pretty damn stupid to go out here and have a walk, rather than just have one in the fucking city!”

“Well, I’m sorry that I hate being surrounded by the stupid city’s walls!” Magilou retorted weakly, watching as Velvet dodged another strike. The ape’s ax connected with a nearby tree, and it got stuck. “The fresh air is nice! I like being able to look at the stars! And there are no guards out here who can eavesdrop on me!”

“Do you think I give a shit!?” Velvet responded, this time slicing at the ape’s legs. “ _You_ could’ve gotten yourself killed, and you’re supposed to help me kill Artorius, remember!?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter if I’m there or not, Velvet! All you need is little boy Laphicet to heal your wounds, and you’re a mean power machine meant to murder and destroy! For example, you’re doing a great job in slashing that big ape to shreds! I wish I could help, but Bienfu still isn’t back yet and—  _ack!”_ Magilou jumped out of the way of Velvet’s battle with the ape daemon, grunting as she hit the ground and rolled slightly. 

The rampaging daemon roared, then started running towards Velvet, who barely had any time to dive out of the way. Even when she dodged, her leg got cut by the ape’s weapon, and she hissed. “You piece of…” Velvet growled, summoning her daemon arm. She sliced at the daemon with both the blade on her arm and the ones hidden in the bottom of her boots. After dodging one more weak attempt of the daemon’s remaining strength, Velvet rushed back in, crushing the ape’s skull with her daemon hand and absorbing the rest of its strength to use as her own.

“W- well…” Magilou started after a long stretch of silence, then flinched back as Velvet turned towards the blonde, a fiery rage visible in her amber eyes. “I- I’ll have you know that I really didn’t pick a fight with that grisly gorilla! I was just talking to Bienfu about… things, a- and—”

“ _Magilou._ ” Velvet sighed, kneeling down to be at equal height with Magilou. “How badly hurt are you?”

“… I… I avoided the majority of its attacks. As soon as it came running towards me, I told Bienfu to run back to the inn as fast as his little normin legs could take him to get help. I wasn’t expecting to last long enough for when someone finally came.”

Velvet looked at Magilou’s expression— the way that she was avoiding eye-contact with Velvet, eyebrows slightly furrowed, lips pressed together— and her eyes widened. “You weren’t expecting anyone to come save you.”

Magilou didn’t bother to deny the statement. She merely shrugged, a weak smile on her face. “Bingo was his name-o. Well!” The blonde hopped up; her mask donned once again. “All that matters is that neither you or myself were seriously scathed, and we can just go back to Loegres and sleep for the remaining time that we have! Right, Velvet?”

Said she-daemon sighed again. “You’re not going to thank your knight in shining armor for coming to save you like she said she would?”

Magilou’s shoulder’s slumped slightly. “Ugh, and stroke your ego even  _more?_ You’re probably going to hang this night over my head and use it as ammo whenever the situation deems it necessary. I’m not going to say  _thank you_ for something that you should’ve done, regardless,” the blonde huffed, crossing her arms. 

Velvet was about to say something, but her ears picked up footsteps coming their way. When she turned around, Laphicet was running towards them, all the while carrying Bienfu in his arms. “Velvet! Magilou! Are you two alright?”

“Just a few scratches, kiddo. You should heal up Velvet first. She did the majority of the fighting.  _My hero_ ,” Magilou hummed, wrapping her arms around Velvet’s shoulders. “You should’ve seen it, Laphicet! There I was, running from that ape like my life depended on it— and, Empyrean’s above,  _did it_ — and then Velvet comes barreling in to save me! Dare I say, it was bold! Brave! Maybe even—”

“I was just saving your dumbass from getting mauled by a gorilla. I shouldn’t let it get to my head, right?” Velvet smirked, and Magilou chuckled, dropping her arms from the raven-haired daemon’s shoulders to rest them behind her head. 

“Right, right.”

After they'd both been healed by Laphicet(even though Magilou could've healed herself with ease, but no questions were asked about that), and the young Malak and Bienfu had turned to walk away, Magilou called out to Velvet. Said daemon turned around, one eyebrow raised in confusion. "Before you magically summon another Code Red daemon, we should get moving. Whatever you're about to say can wait—"

Magilou had walked up to Velvet, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and a smug look as she jumped away when Velvet's eyes widened and then attempted to push the blonde away. "You little—"

"Thanks for saving me, sweetcheeks," Magilou winked, then jogged to catch up with Bienfu and Laphicet.

Velvet stood in shock for a few more seconds, then growled, rolled her eyes, and started walking again. Well, if that was the closest Magilou could get to actually thanking Velvet, then that was all the raven-haired daemon would get from the emotionally unavailable witch.

_But was that kiss really necessary?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... but you get a little peck on the cheek for getting through all that. hope you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'RE BACK BABY I'M SO SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING I'LL EXPLAIN AFTER THE CHAPTER

It was after everything played out with Eleanor Hume, the crybaby-exorcist-now-forced-and-extremely-untrustworthy-ally when Magilou and Velvet actually had time to really talk. After Laphicet when back into the temple to rest, it was just the blonde and the raven-haired daemon looking out at the rest of the ravine.

“So. You actually came out alive, huh,” Magilou sighed, flopping back to lie down on the ground, staring up at the sky. “I stand corrected, but still. Velvet, you can’t act the same as you did when you went up against Artorius. Throwing yourself at him only to get thrown back and tossed around like a bouncy ball? And relying on Laphicet so much to the point where he almost breaks… it’s fucked up, Velvet.”

“I know—”

“No, you don’t.” Magilou stood up then, looking Velvet straight in the eyes. “You treated Laphicet like an object. Like a _tool_. You got your ass kicked by Artorius and you _ordered_ that boy to heal you back up, good as new just so you could get thrown back into the pulverizer again.”

“Magilou—”

“You took that boy away from the Abbey so he could live a life like the breathing being he is. _You_ took him away from the life of bland, dullness full of orders and mindless thought because his will was torn away from him by those ignorant exorcists. And for what? To manipulate him into obeying you out of his own ‘free will’ instead of tethering him to you? Do you have any idea how completely and utterly hypocritical that was of you? Yes, you apologized, and yes, he forgave you, but you’re a _daemon_ .” Magilou laughed drily, a shit-eating grin on her face. “Knowing someone like you, you’re bound to order that boy around all over again in the near future. He’s not a person to you. He’s not an _equal_ being. He’s a tool. And that makes you just as bad as the exorcists you hate so much.”

Velvet growled, ready to snap at Magilou. “You piece of—”

The blonde snorted, covering her mouth. “S- sorry. Oh, wow— did you _really_ think that I was mad at you, Velvet?” Magilou grinned wider, resting her hands behind her head in her usual uncaring pose. “I’m surprised you let me go on for so long, you know— if we were back in Loegres, you’d have kicked my ass in five seconds, flat. You’re not going soft on me, are you?”

“No, I’m not going soft,” Velvet sighed, choosing to pinch the bridge of her nose rather than slap Magilou. “It just seemed like you wanted to let some steam out, so I let you. You did just lose a bet with Rokurou, right? Your poor ten gald, and all.”

The wind in Magilou’s sails left as she tried to come up with a witty comeback. _What do you mean, ‘I wanted to let some steam out!?’ I am perfectly fine, thank you very much! Just because I saw that stupid old man after all these years and he didn’t look at me… practically ignored my entire existence… I’m perfectly fine!_

“You’re awful at reading people. I just wanted you to snap back at me like you usually do,” Magilou huffed, sitting back down and pulling her legs close to where her chin rested on her left knee, facing away from Velvet. Her cheeks were slightly puffed up, as well, which made Magilou look like—

“A pouty toddler throwing a temper tantrum,” Velvet thought out loud, which made Magilou sit up straight. “Am I wrong? That was a weak jab, too. Are you sure that _you_ aren’t going soft on _me_ , Magilou?”

“ _Never_ .” The blonde responded, scoffing. “I’m just tired. That venture through the earth pulse and _then_ that stupid temple? How are you not utterly exhausted, Velvet? Mind sharing some of that energy with lil’ ole’ me?”

“Well, there’s this thing that you can do called _sleeping_. Knowing your luck, though, you’re probably going to get attacked by a daemon or something when you go back in that temple,” Velvet teased, leaning down to pull Magilou’s hat down over her eyes.

“H- hey! Gah, I _knew_ you were going to bring it back up again!” Magilou whined, fixing her hat. “Such a mean daemon,” the blonde added quietly, going back to pouting.

After a long moment of silence, Velvet moved to sit beside Magilou, keeping a decent amount of space between herself and the blonde. “How long do you plan on staying out here, Magilou? It’s probably cold out here, isn’t it?”

“Oh, this isn’t as cold as Hellawes, I’m fine. Besides, I prefer the fresh air out here rather than the stale temple air.” Magilou paused, then grinned. “But if you’re _really_ worried about me getting a cold, Velvet dear, then you could sit a little closer, hm?”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Boo! Showing some semblance of concern and not acting on it— no fun! No fun at all, not one bit!” Magilou glanced at the raven-haired woman to see that there was a small smile on her face. _I’m going out of my way to try and cheer you up after you got your ass handed to you by your father figure. The least you could do is laugh or something, Velvet!_

“I’d like to think that being no fun is just a part of being a daemon.” Velvet shrugged, her gaze on the night sky above. “… I feel like if I try to go to sleep in there then I’m going to have a shitty dream, and I don’t like having those. It’d be easier to just stay awake, rather than risk having a nightmare.”

“… I’ve always wondered if daemons actually needed sleep.” When Velvet stared at Magilou, one eyebrow raised as a silent question, the blonde emphasized. “Well, you aren’t entirely human, right? And I’m not one to go dissecting daemons to try and figure out what part of the brain does what— I’ll leave that to the professionals, thank you very much. But both Rokurou’s and your sleeping patterns are definitely abnormal. Of course, every daemon has its quirks, especially if they maintain some of their human nature, even after they turn into a daemon.

“Like how Rokurou is obsessed with his swords and his alcohol and training to defeat his brother, Shigure. He’s so hellbent on killing his brother that his true nature shines through whenever it’s brought up. Bloodthirst, yearning for the day where he finally ends his brother’s life in a true battle to the death. That, and add on his stubbornness to fulfill the debt that he has to you, coo-coo, and you have Rokurou Rangetsu, a samurai-daemon with a thick-skull.”

Velvet hummed, cocking her head to the side. “That is pretty accurate, yeah. Who knew that you actually watched others closely behind all that narcissism, Magilou?”

“Uh, _I_ knew! I’m not narcissistic at all, excuse you! The Great Witch Magilou always puts others first and herself last! That is the true creed of a performer, Velvet!” The raven-haired woman made a noise close to a muffled laugh, and Magilou gasped. “You’re _laughing_ at me? I’ll have you know that I’m being absolutely serious right now, Velvet! I’d rather appreciate it if you actually took me seriously, you know,” the blonde pouted, crossing her arms.

“How can I take you seriously if you yourself can’t be serious for more than a minute?” Velvet retorted, her voice still her normal deadpan tone, but Magilou knew a playful, sarcastic jab when she heard one.

“I can be serious for more than a minute. I just choose to be happy and bubbly all the time. It’s an art form that has to be mastered, Velvet. A dark, gloomy daemon like you wouldn’t understand the true pain that I put myself through in order to get to where I am today. Beauty is pain, and I’ve gone through a lot of it!”

_Magillanica hid on the roof of her family home as she usually did, reading books that gave even some of the adults a run for their money. There was a traveling circus troupe in town— they called themselves the Menagerie, and Magillanica thought it was a stupid name— and she could hear them talking to some of the townsfolk below._

_“Magillanica! Come down here, please, we have people that we’d like for you to meet!” Her father called, and the small blonde obeyed, safely maneuvering herself off of the roof and back onto the ground, walking to where she’d heard her father’s voice._

_“Yes, father?” She had an old history book wrapped in her arms as she walked up to her parents, noticing an unfamiliar man standing with them. Magillanica immediately froze in place, her mind telling her to run back to the house and climb onto the roof. She’d be safe there, and not with a strange man in strange clothes with a strange smell wafting from his clothes._

_Magillanica wrinkled her nose._

_“Magillanica, this is the man we’d like you to introduce yourself to. He’s not an awful person, okay? He’d just like to get to know you, is all. Is that alright?” Her mother smiled— it was more or less a grimace more than a smile, but little Magillanica didn’t know the difference between the two._

_The man kneeled down until he was equal height with Magillanica, an easy smile on his face. “I hear that you’re a magical girlie, kiddo. We could use someone like you to help us in the Menagerie. You’ll be treated like a princess, and you’ll be given anything you ask for. Just say the word, and we’ll get it for you, alright?”_

_He slowly extended his hand as to not scare away the young girl. Magillanica tentatively took a step forward, still clutching the history book to her chest. “Will you get me stuffed toys?”_

_“Every single one in the world.”_

_“And how about books?”_

_“All the books we can find will be placed in your hands to read first, magic girl.”_

_“You promise?”_

_“Cross my heart and hope to die,” the man smiled. “Do you trust me, magic girl?”  Magillanica adjusted the book in her hand to place her small hand in the large one that’d been extended to her the entire time. The man’s gentle smile only widened. “Do you have anything you’d like to take with you before we depart, little one?”_

_“Um… my plushies are still—”_

_“We’ll get them for you, Magillanica,” her father smiled, placing a tense hand on top of his daughter’s head. “Just wait out here, alright? We’ll get everything you’ll need, so just give us a moment.”_

_Deep down, Magillanica sensed that something was off. She didn’t know if it was her parent’s actions, the strange man beside her, or a strange concoction of both, but she couldn’t place the peculiar feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach._

_It was too late when she realized that her parents had abandoned her._

_The troupe leader was kind enough to her at first, actually fulfilling what he’d promised when he first took Magillanica in. Bringing her plushies and books to read. After a while, though, the books and stuffed animals added up, and the young girl had to start abandoning books after she’d finished reading them, but she was stubborn when it came to making sure that they were donated to a library rather than just burned or tossed to the road._

_The longer she stayed with the Menagerie, the duller her life got. Most of her plushies were torn apart, dirty, or beyond repair, so she made sure to keep a select few in as prime condition as she could manage with the traveling Menagerie._

_Magillanica forced herself to be bright and bubbly in front of her audience. She put their amusement first, all so she could rake in cash for the traveling circus troupe. The majority of what she earned was spread out amongst the other Menagerie members, and Magillanica was left with whatever remained. When Boss— he’d never given his name, so the blonde decided that she’d just call him Boss rather than ask him and have a chance of getting punished for stepping out of line— thought that her performance was inadequate, she’d be reprimanded severely._

_Whether it be no money, no food, physical punishment, or isolation, Magillanica was most terrified of being alone._

_Eventually in her travels with the Menagerie—not even a year after she’d traveled with the troupe, really— Magillanica had made acquaintances with Bienfu, a lonely young normin who was still trying to find his place in the world. The two lonely souls found solace in each other’s company, and they became friends. For both Magillanica and Bienfu, they’d never had a friend before, so their current companion was the first-ever._

_Bienfu assisted Magillanica in her performances and was repaid with the young girl’s company. He made the young girl laugh and smile and open up. When her frail body wracked and shook from sickness, Bienfu tried to keep her healthy. Snuck her food, gave her water. When she still didn’t get better, he cried._

_Neither of them realized that Bienfu’s tears actually helped the girl’s health after being sick for days— or even weeks— on end._

_Magillanica and Bienfu were a pair. An inseparable pair. No one but the young blonde herself knew of the small normin, and thus Magillanica’s reputation as the Little Witch was known all throughout Midgand._

_Of course, being known all throughout the continent brought the unwanted attention of the Inquisitors. A child with high resonance was unknown to the majority of the people, and thus the only thing to do that the Inquisitors knew how to do was interrogate._

_And interrogation meant torture. Brutal torture._

“Well, if it weren’t for that big mouth of yours, you’d probably go through less pain,” Velvet responded, and Magilou shook the fog of memories away from her mind. “ _Especially_ from a certain daemon girl whose buttons you can’t help but push,” the raven-haired girl added.

“Well, maybe if a certain daemon girl didn’t make it so effortless in order to push her buttons, then I wouldn’t do it so often,” Magilou retorted with ease, smirking when Velvet shoved herself up from the grass. “Oh? Leaving so soon, daemon of doom?”

“Might as well _try_ to sleep. Better than being out here with you for the rest of the night,” Velvet muttered, waving a hand nonchalantly in the air. “You gonna stay out here to get attacked by a daemon or something? Or are you going to actually try to rest as any sane living being would do?”

“You and I both know that you are in no position to talk about what a _sane_ living being would do, Velvet,” Magilou grunted as she stood up, stretching her legs before turning to walk towards the temple doors. “Thought you said that you didn’t want to sleep? Y’know, with those nightmares and all. I’ll bet that as soon as you close your eyes, those bad dreams are going to hop on you like Eizen jumps at every opportunity to give a history lesson.”

“Well, if I do start having a nightmare, it’s your turn to play the knight in shining armor. You can save me from my terrible nightmares, and I probably won’t punch you in the face or something.” Velvet smirked, a challenging fire in her eyes as she looked at Magilou, who was staring at her with her mouth slightly agape.

“Me, the knight in shining armor? Empyreans above, I am nowhere _near_ knight material! I’m much more like a princess. And, besides, if I try to wake you up from a nightmare, you’ll probably think I’m Artorius and try to kick my ass into next week. No offense, Velvet, but your sleep-fighting is terrifying.” Velvet was about to respond, but Magilou raised her hand and quickly said, “But!”

“... _But?_ ”

“... But if I _really_ have to, then I’ll probably splash some water on you from afar to wake you up. Not exactly knightly, but I’d rather be safe than get my neck snapped by an angry, half-asleep daemon-lady,” Magilou shrugged, grinning when Velvet rolled her eyes.

“ _My hero_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so school is super stressful and i couldn't exactly find a way to healthily balance this with my school life. thus, i not only dropped this story completely, but all the wind left my sails to keep working on it. HOWEVER! the fire under my ass has been relit and i've already gotten a couple of chapters queued up to post! i can't assure that the hiatus won't happen again because... college BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT. i'm going to finish this story if it's the last thing i commit to! see you next chapter ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haha this chapter is really long but i had so much fun writing it, please enjoy and don't be afraid to tell me if there are any typos because i'm freeballin all by myself babey

As the Van Eltia sailed away from Port Cadnix, Magilou watched the buildings slowly shrink and disappear over the horizon. The last time that the blonde had seen Shigure was when she still lived as Magillanica and was Melchior’s star pupil and daughter. Compared to the cold, calculating girl that Magilou wasn’t, it was no surprise that Shigure didn’t realize who the blonde was, or didn’t give a shit.

Knowing Shigure, it was probably the latter. After all, his kid brother, who was hellbent on revenge, amused him long enough, and they were each other’s main targets for every time they encountered one another. And… he’s smart-stupid. Talented in battle, but useful as a rock when it came to anything else.

Magilou hated that stupid Rangetsu Legate. Morgrim, too. Stupid fat cat with her nasal voice and weird... cat eyebrows.

Thinking back on her time spent with Melchior, Magilou felt that Shigure probably would’ve preferred the fun, bubbly, happy Magilou Mayvin over the snappy, isolated Magillanica Lou Mayvin. Of course, if she were nonchalant and uncaring about everything like she was in the present, Magilou probably wouldn’t be a master of the four elements. She was more than proficient when it came to earth and wind artes, but fire and water artes were more fun.

They were also the two elements that she mastered first, with water being the one that she practiced with when Melchior first took her in. Thus, water was her most substantial element and the one that she was the most comfortable with.

Maybe that was one of the other reasons why she found the ocean’s waves so calming. That, and the sea was brimming with secrets underneath all that beauty: Terrifying monsters lurking underneath the blue waters, buried treasures waiting to be plundered by adventurous souls willing to lay their lives on the line for a taste of richness.

The food options, too! Seafood was terrific to have, and there were so many different fish that could be cooked— or even eaten raw! The possibilities were practically endless when it came to the sea. Just thinking about all that food made Magilou hungry, but she didn’t want to move. She’d much rather prefer staring endlessly at the sea compared to being productive.

… And yet, her mind was still stuck in her encounter with Melchior at the Empyrean’s Throne.

Stupid old man Mayvin. All those years, and not even a glance Magilou’s way. What was his deal? Couldn’t he at least have shown a tad bit of surprise to see that his old apprentice was still alive and kicking? Or at least he could’ve said something to her. _Something._

“Stooping as low as siding with a daemon, Magillanica? I thought I’d taught you better,” or— or even just _looking_ at her! Acknowledging her existence! He didn’t even _look_ at her! He was just the stupid old man he always was, looking out for Artorius to make sure that he could do whatever he could for that annoying Shepherd.

Magilou fumed on the inside, but simply sighed as the only means of venting out her frustrations. After all, she didn’t care. Not then, not now, not ever.

“Hey, Magilou!” Velvet called the witch, who waved her hand lazily to show that she was paying attention. “If you want to starve— which I’d recommend you don’t do— come down here and eat something, but if you want to keep being edgy and isolated, then I’m not stopping you.”

“The pot’s calling the kettle black!” Magilou responded, laughing when Velvet grumbled and said something under her breath.

“Are you not going to go down and eat, Miss Magilou?” Bienfu asked, head tilting slightly to the side, his hat following suit. “They’re waiting for you.”

“Well, tell them that this beauty isn’t hungry. You can join them, you know,” Magilou hummed, turning to wink overenthusiastically at Bienfu. “You have my permission, my dear _assistant.”_

_Leave._

The Malak jumped slightly before his rapid, squeaking footsteps diminished. After she made sure she was alone, the witch let out an exhausted sigh: curse _you, old man. I wonder if you even spared me a second of thought after that short meeting?_

She felt her shoulders slump, and Magilou caught herself immediately. _Shit, I can’t let anyone risk seeing me like this. I need to get down there and act normal, so no one thinks anything is—_

“— wrong with you?”

The scream that Magilou let out was embarrassing, to put it simply. Velvet— who was startled for a split second— slipped back into her typical, unamused frown with a pinch of concern knitting her eyebrows. “That was… a first.”

After Magilou recollected herself with a handful of long, measured breaths, she turned to the daemon in question. I’m _too tired for this. “_ And it’ll be the last, I assure you. I’m heading in for the night.”

“... The sun is still up.”

“And it will eventually set. I’m just beating it to the finish line. Good night—”

“This is about Melchior, isn’t it?” Velvet inquired and stayed perfectly still when the blonde witch spun around and _glared_. T and cock her head in a sort of challenge. “Bullseye, huh?”

Magilou realized her mistake— showing _emotion_ , and a negative one at that— and turned away in a hasty attempt of retreat. “Good night,” and the witch disappeared into the depths of Van Eltia. The next step was to lock herself in the room that she had all to herself—

All to herself.

The Van Eltia headed towards Yseult, where she _knew_ Grimoirh was going to be. That old bat wouldn’t move from that archipelago even if her life depended on it. But Magilou was restless. Uneasy. How would Grim react to her companions? To her coming back after all these years, little to no communication, to ask for _another_ favor?

The wooden floorboards creaked underneath her feet as she paced back and forth. Grim knew her. _Knew_ what she’d been through with Melchior. Would that still be a viable excuse? One valid enough for the old Malak to help her? Magilou never truly repaid Grim for her hospitality.

“ _Argh!”_ Frustration seeped through her every pore. Without thinking, she threw open her cabin door and stormed up to the deck. She needed to get her anger _out_.

“Oh, Magilou! I saved some food for you, Rokurou and Eizen ate a lot of it, but I made sure to remind them that you hadn’t eaten anything.” The wind faltered in the witch’s sails when she passed Laphicet. “Do you want to eat it now?”

“I— later. Sorry, kiddo, but I’m in a hurry— do you know where our dear Velvet is, perchance?” Magilou forced a smile, praying that the perceptive boy didn’t see through her cracked mask.

“I think she said she was going up to the Crow’s Nest. I made a joke about how she would like it up there since her last name is Crowe and all, but she didn’t—”

“Awesome, I owe you one Laphicet, see you!” Magilou _sprinted_ towards where the daemon said she was, leaving Laphicet in the dust.

“... laugh,” the Malak boy finished, sighing. “Boy, she sure seemed like she was in a hurry. What do you think, Bienfu?”

The normin in question cowered behind Laphicet. His pupils shrank to the size of rice pellets during the interaction between the two. “L- Laphicet, how about we drop the food off in front of Miss Magilou’s cabin, and then we stay down there no matter what?”

“What? Why do you say that?”

As Magilou stormed away, she forced the magic burning at her fingers down. Gray clouds were starting to form over the ship, and they reeked of a coming rainfall.

“Trust me. You don’t wanna be up here when Miss Magilou finds Velvet.”

Lightning crackled in her veins. The only one she knew who could bring her back down was—

“Velvet, dear. Fancy seeing you here. Mind sparring with me?” Magilou smiled innocently, wind whipping her hair around as she held onto the wooden border of the Crow’s Nest. “No bars. Full strength. I need to work a couple of things out, and you’re the only worthy opponent on this ship.”

Velvet’s response was a silent, analytical stare before she hummed in agreement. “Equipment or no?”

“No. Puts me at a disadvantage, but that’s fine by me. I don’t need to win. I just need to let out some steam. You’re fine with that, right?” The clouds above the Van Eltia were worsening. Magilou apologized in the back of her head to the crew below them for the abrupt change in weather.

“Fine by me. I’ll tell the crew to evacuate the top deck as much as possible. You go down there and do whatever you have to to get ready.” Velvet pushed off the wooden railing, stepping towards Magilou. “But don’t be upset when I throw your ass to the ground, witch.”

“Can’t wait,” Magilou replied, listening as Velvet descended to the main deck below. The first order of business was to calm down enough to where the stupid storm above her went away. _Deep breaths. Concentrate_.

 _“Imagine Mother Nature as your plaything, Little Bird. She is your doll, your marionette to manipulate. Twirl her strings and make her dance to your music.”_ Her tutor before Mayvin prepared her well in terms of imagery. Some of them were sadistic and morbid, sure, but if the shoe fits, wear it. They worked, and that’s all that mattered.

The storm clouds above the massive ship dissipated enough to Magilou’s satisfaction. After all, she couldn’t spend all her energy on the clouds above her— someone might notice that she was the one “controlling” them. With that thought in mind, the witch descended to find a crowd of Van Eltia crewmates bordered around the main deck in a sort of… crowd?

“There she is Velvet! Beat her to a pulp!”

“Knock her senseless, Magilou!”

Other chants joined in with the cacophony of bullshit, and Magilou held back an eye roll. “Hey, Vel. Do you want this to be a purely physical spar, so you can just crush my ass and then some?” The witch called, unclasping her belt of tomes and dropping it next to a wooden beam. “Or would you grant me the small mercy of letting me use magic?”

“The real question is, could you last against me in a physical, no-nonsense spar?” Velvet asked while stretching her arms.

“We could find out.” Magilou grinned, blatantly staring at the other woman’s figure. “But I will say, I’ve never really taken the time to appreciate your figure until now, Velvet. You have... _quite_ the muscles.”

“Right. Tell me when you’re ready.” _Damn. No reaction to that one, huh? Boring_.

“Huh? I’m perfectly ready,” Magilou stated, head canted slightly to the side. “If I prepare any more, I’ll knock your ass down in five seconds, flat.” In her usually cocky manner, she stood a few feet from Velvet, hands behind her head. “Waiting on you, sweet cheeks.”

If she had the time to laugh when Velvet’s eye twitched, Magilou would’ve; however, the amount of time between that and the daemon rushing forward to attack was too small, and Magilou actually wanted to put up the smallest amount of a fight. Sure, she wasn’t confident in her physical abilities at all, but with a couple of enhancements from her magic —

 _Woah_. She felt a breeze from where Velvet’s fist almost met her face, and Magilou realized that she fucked up. _Strategize, strategize. You’re smart enough, Magilou, figure out a way to not accidentally die in a spar with Velvet!_

The witch jumped back, continuing to dodge and parry with her fists whenever Velvet attempted to hit her. “Gosh, must’ve been great being trained in hand-to-hand combat, huh? My damn teacher only focused on magic, so I’ve quite the disadvantage,” Magilou lied easily, praying that her strategy worked. _Have Velvet lower her guard because she actually likes me and doesn’t want to hurt me that badly! Works like a charm_ —

The kick that flew at Magilou’s torso said otherwise —

_Most of the time._

“Of course. Someone trained in only magic would be able to block all my attacks,” Velvet teased, an easy smirk playing on her lips. “Cute, but no dice. I’m not that gullible, and you should know that.”

“Oh, come on!” The blonde whined, ducking underneath a high kick. She, in turn, aimed for Velvet’s grounded leg, and the raven-haired daemon jumped back. “Ugh! You are _insufferable.”_

“I could say the same thing,” Velvet hummed, tackling Magilou to the ground. Before the witch could push her off, the stronger woman pinned her wrists above her and sat overtop of Magilou’s legs. The pleasant look in her eyes pissed Magilou off. But the fact that she was on top of the blonde kind of turned her on a little. Ignoring that, no matter how much the witch struggled, Velvet didn’t budge. “I win.”

A fire erupted in Magilou’s chest, and she squirmed even more. “No! It’s not over. I can still win this —”

“ _Magilou.”_

The blonde froze.

_“I can still win!” Magillanica grunted, forcing herself back up from the dusty floor of the training grounds. Sweat dripped from her temple down to her chin, and her opponent stared at her with a relaxed smile. “Another round. I’ll win this time, I swear it!”_

_Honey-sweet laughter echoed around the room. “You don’t know when to give up, do you, Magi? We’ve been going at it for the past three hours. Let’s wind down, okay?” The female exorcist sat down on the training mat next to where Magillanica flopped back down, exhausted. “I will admit, I didn’t think you’d last that long, especially against me of all people. I don’t know what the other exorcists would’ve thought if I lost to a kid like you.”_

_Said ‘kid’ pouted, glaring at the other woman. “I am_ not _a child. If this were a spar where I could use my magic, then I would’ve decimated you.”_

_“Right, right. But you were honest, and you didn’t use your magic, and that’s all that matters. I appreciate that you know. Honesty is an important factor for us exorcists. You’re a good kid.”_

_Frustrated, Magillanica jumped up, pointing at the older exorcist. “That’s it! I’ll take this treatment no longer. If I beat you this round, you’ll stop calling me a kid. Deal?”_

_Another sweet laugh. “Sure, kid.”_

Magilou laughed drily, rolling her eyes. “I lose. There! I said it. I give.” _Stupid woman. I don’t even remember her name. “_ Was never good at admitting my losses. Well! It just goes to show that I’ve gotten some character development. Now, if you’d get off of me, please!”

“Did you get out all that anger of yours?” Velvet asked, voice quiet. Was that… _concern? “_ I owe you, for all those times you’ve let me take my anger out on you. Although, you never really landed a single hit on me—”

Magilou pressed her lips to the corner of Velvet’s, before casting a quick spell to enhance her strength. She broke out of the daemon’s grip, rolling herself on top of her’ opponent,’ a devilish grin painted on her face. “ _Never_ underestimate a witch, Velvet cake.”

With that, Magilou walked away with the cheers of the Van Eltia’s crewmates behind her, and the distinct feeling of soft, slightly chapped lips on hers.

 _Shit. Why did I have to go and do that? Now she’ll think that I like her or something. That’ll be a problem. I should probably clear things up. Yeah, that would do me some_ —

“Magilou?” Said woman froze at the sound of Laphicet’s soft, sweet voice, and she turned to meet the young boy with a _forced_ smile. “Are you heading to your room?”

“I am yes. Is something wrong, kiddo?” The witch asked, crossing her arms. Laphicet was usually timid, but he certainly seemed more so than usual. His cheeks were obviously pink, and those bright eyes were darting around and never once landing on Magilou. “Kid?”

“Oh! I- I’m sorry, I’m probably wasting your time—”

“You’re not,” Magilou laughed, shaking her head. “Not like I’ve got anything better to do, anyway. So, what do you need? Entertainment? Advice? I can assure you I’m quite a master of both.” _Please don’t be about Velvet, please don’t be about Velvet, please don’t —_

“I wanted to ask you something about Velvet.”

_Fuck._

“You worried about her?” The witch asked, walking and gesturing for Laphicet to follow. “Let’s talk, then, but would you mind if we talked on deck? I hate being in these stuffy hallways for too long.” When the young Malak made no arguments, Magilou continued walking.

“Oh, it’s nothing big. I just wanted to ask for your opinion. Do you think that Velvet’s been acting any differently?” Laphicet inquired, following a step behind the older girl. “Compared to when you first met her,” the boy added.

“Mind if I ask what spurred on this question?” Magilou stalled for time as she thought of an average answer. “I mean, I can assure you that this adventure isn’t ending anytime soon, so asking about character development is a bit much.”

“Well, I was just… curious.” _Oh, this poor boy needs to sharpen his lying skills._ Magilou gave him a look, and Laphicet immediately looked guilty. “Okay, maybe not. It just seemed like she’s more— _happy isn’t_ exactly the right word…”

“Honest?” Magilou tried, and Laphicet nodded. “If anything, I think it’s a matter of comfort— trust if you will. At the very start of the road, Velvet didn’t trust Rokurou or I. Hell, she probably _barely_ trusts me even still. But regardless, she’s grown to tolerate us. After being with us for so long a part of her, whether it’s by choice or by instinct, tells her that it’s okay to open up. Even if it’s just a little bit.” The blonde chuckled, shaking her head. “I can assure you that she tolerates _me_ a lot more than she did when we first started. Did I ever tell you how she and I first met? Quite a funny story if you’re curious.”

To put it quite simply, the word ‘curious’ described Laphicet quite well. When Magilou brought up how Velvet and her first met, the twinkle in his eyes betrayed any attempt at disinterest. The boy’s undying honesty was both a blessing and a curse. “If you wouldn’t mind telling me, I’d love to hear it.”

As Magilou began the story, she didn’t realize that Velvet was still on the top deck, discussing something with Benwick. Mostly about where they were headed to next, and what he could tell her about Yseult. The raven-haired daemon paused and watched with intense concern as Magilou came into sight with Laphicet in tow. _Last_ time the witch was alone with Laphicet, she taught him a few unsavory things.

So, she bid farewell to Benwick, thanking him for the information, before briskly walking over to Magilou —

Then hiding behind the beam of one of the Van Eltia’s many sails to listen in on the conversation _before_ interrupting. After all, if the conversation was just a normal one — which, knowing Magilou, was a _fat_ chance — then interjecting would be unneeded and embarrassing.

“Now, since she was escaping from Titania, of course she was on edge. But being the master of stealth that I am, I actually snuck up on Velvet. Got a word in or two before she realized I was behind her, and you know what she did? Tried to slash me with her sword!” Velvet heard a gasp, and rolled her eyes. “Right? Such a rude greeting, _especially_ after I was awoken so rudely from my afternoon nap. And after all that, she had the _audacity_ to mispronounce my name. It’s not that hard to pronounce, is it, Laphicet?”

“No, it isn’t,” the young Malak agreed, with a lot more excitement than Velvet anticipated. “So she mispronounced your name, then what?”

“Well, I could tell that she wanted to attack me, but I guess I surprised her so much by being able to sneak up on her. That girl has quite a bit of an ego if you ask me, but don’t tell her I told you that,” Magilou lowered her voice before chuckling. “Anyway, I knew when I wasn’t wanted, so I walked away from her. She didn’t know that I used an illusion spell to remove myself from her vision, so I stuck around for fun.

“When she thought I was gone, she muttered something about how she didn’t believe I was a witch, _just_ because I didn’t have Bienfu at the time.” The blonde clicked her tongue, and Velvet could practically imagine her shaking her head in disbelief. “I couldn’t believe it! Those exorcists in the Abbey can’t use artes without their malakhim, but I’m a living example of someone who _can_.”

At that, Velvet paused. _If she could use artes without a Malak, couldn’t she have fought before she’d gotten Bienfu back?_

“If you can fight without a Malak, then why didn’t you help Velvet before you renewed your pact with Bienfu?” _Thank you, Laphicet. “_ Did you not care enough to fight?”

“Yes, and no. I may be able to fight and use some artes without a Malak, but that doesn’t mean that it leaves me stress-free. This might come as a shock to you, kiddo, but I’m not perfect. I can easily transform my Guardians without Bienfu, but Malak artes are hard to use without — you guessed it — a Malak. Healing artes are also difficult; however, they don’t exactly _require_ malakhim to use. I wouldn’t recommend any _human_ in using healing artes without a Malak, though. The stress of focusing all that energy on a body as frail as a human’s can be especially traumatizing, physically, and mentally.”

“But you still could’ve fought by using your Guardians, then?” Laphicet questioned further. _Again, thank you, Laphicet._

Velvet only assumed that Magilou nodded before elaborating, “But I resonate more with magic rather than hidden artes. Yes, they’re still powerful, but I’m not one for fighting on the front lines if you couldn’t tell.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me all this, Magilou. I appreciate it. Also…” Laphicet paused, and Velvet heard him shuffling his shoes on the wooden floor. “I hope that, someday, you’ll start to trust us, too. I want you to be comfortable around us like you said Velvet was.” The young Malak quickly retreated after that, Velvet following his small figure making its way to the crew’s quarters.

“... That boy is too perceptive for his own good,” Magilou finally uttered, sounding almost breathless. After a few more seconds passed, the blonde spoke up again. “Enjoy the show, Velvet cake?”

“How long have you known?” Velvet asked, showing herself from behind the wooden beam she’d been hiding behind.

“You’re bad at hiding your aura, just like everyone else on this ship. I’m only good at it because my old teacher taught me illusion magic — the basics, at least.” Magilou sat on the floor of the ship and let her head rest on the railing. “The only one who has any real semblance of stealth is Rokurou, surprisingly. Shigure has a similar skill, but it’s more refined than our samurai daemon friend. Maybe it’s a Rangetsu thing.”

“Right. So, about the spar earlier, what was that about?”

“Which part? I thought I explained it thoroughly enough. I was angry, I needed to get some anger out of my system, and you’re the only one I knew who could beat me. The others are too honest for me not to feel bad when I use a couple of tricks up my sleeve to ruin their chances of winning, and you’re… you, so boom. Shouldn’t be that hard to understand,” Magilou frowned, looking up at Velvet, who hadn’t moved during their interaction.

“And it had nothing to do with what I mentioned earlier?” At Magilou’s confused look, Velvet elaborated. “ _Melchior_?”

 _Ah. “_ No.” _Gosh, without an excuse, that sounds like a blatant lie._ As Magilou attempted to crank out a semi-believable story, she didn’t notice as Velvet sat down next to her, barely even an inch away. “It’s just an off-day. I’ve been having a lot of those, recently,” was what she finally came up with.

“... If you say so. Did kissing me make you feel any better?” At that, Magilou laughed. “With that reaction, I’ll assume it did.”

“Eh, just seemed like the right moment. You were so close, and with the position we were in, how couldn’t I? At least I can scratch ‘kissing a daemon’ off my bucket list. I much rather prefer you over Rokurou, though. No offense to him, but he seems like he’d be an _awful_ kisser,” Magilou waved nonchalantly, adjusting her hat slightly in the process. “But I didn’t give you much time to reciprocate, so I guess I can’t say much in terms of _your_ skill, either.”

Velvet exhaled in something that sounded similar to a laugh, then got up. She muttered something under her breath, but the ocean breeze picked up and drowned out what was said.

Magilou didn’t risk asking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hAHAH THEY KISSED! also i wonder what velvet said *thinking emoji*  
> tune in for the next chapter next week! in the meantime, drink lots of water and stay safe and healthy y'all! thanks for reading


	9. Chapter 9

Seeing Melchior again after such a short amount of time was _not_ something Magilou had entirely planned. It was unpleasant and left the blonde with a sour taste in her mouth for the rest of the night, and she knew it wasn't the sale' tomah. Of course, being in such a sorry state when she was usually so bubbly and _annoying_ meant that someone would notice. Fortunately, Bienfu knew when to ask and when to mind his own _fucking_ business, but not everyone on the ship was so thoughtful.

So when Eizen, of all people, decided to walk up to her while she was staring off into the endless oceanic abyss, Magilou cringed internally. When he asked what was wrong, the blonde felt like crying. Not because she was sad, no - because Eizen was  _genuinely_ concerned for her wellbeing, and that _disgusted_ her.

"Nothing's wrong, Eizen," Magilou lied with ease, smirking up at the older Malak, "I'll be up and running in a couple of minutes, just as soon as the taste of that disgusting medicine is out of my mouth."

"Is that the first time you've ever had sale' tomah?" Eizen inquired, resting his arms on the railing next to Magilou. The blonde tensed. _I know what you're trying to do, Reaper, but it's not going to work on me._

"Yep. And it'd better be the last, or I'm asking Velvet for a refund on this adventure. I do _not_ need to risk my behind for that nasty medicine _ever_ again." The witch shivered at the memory. In reality, that was her third time drinking the sale' tomah medicine. When she was with the Menagerie, there was a time where she toured a different country and traveled there by sea. Of course, it was just her luck that the crew caught the corsair's scourge, and her caretaker didn't want to risk Magillanica dying from the sickness. So, they altered their course to pick up the medicine as quickly as possible. Fortunately for the young girl, she only began to show mild signs before they'd gotten the sale' tomah.

They'd forced the medicine down her throat, after threatening her with a whipping if she didn't drink up. She was still a child back then, and it was before they'd gotten Magillanica entirely under their control. 

The second encounter was, of course, with the Abbey. Their ritual of drinking sale' tomah as a bonding experience was one that was around even before _her_ time, and she left the Abbey over ten years ago. 

"When we were in Loegres the first time, I asked Tabatha about you. I didn't get the information for free, and what she had me do was a lot more than I'd bargained for." Eizen paused, and Magilou absorbed the information she was hearing. She could hear the blond Malak's voice continuing to speak, but the ringing in her ears muffled the sound of everything else. 

_He knows_. _And Eizen despises Melchior. If he knows that I'm related to him, then I might as well abandon ship now —_

"But I won't tell anyone else. I can assure you that no one knows about your past except for me. And Bienfu, of course," Eizen assured the younger girl; when he looked at Magilou, however, she was as pale as the moonlight dancing across the ocean waves. "Magilou."

The witch tensed, then quickly relaxed. "How much did the old bat tell you? All of it, I'd assume, if she was true to her word."

"From the Menagerie —" Magilou flinched, "to Melchior and the Abbey." Eizen sighed, rubbing his temples. "I'm sorry for going behind your back and learning all this information. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't a spy for the Abbey, and I genuinely wasn't expecting to learn everything that she told me. You're a good… kid, Magilou."

The blonde laughed. "Careful there, bucko. Granny told you my age, then?"

Eizen shook his head, "No, but she hinted at it. I guessed from what information I had. You're in your late twenties, and yet you haven't aged a day from when Melchior first tossed you into the Abbey. Even the Bloodwings didn't know what that was about."

"Good. Even if they did find out, then they wouldn't be alive to tell you why," Magilou laughed drily. "You know, Eizen, I could easily alter your memory right now. Make it to where you never remembered asking Granny Bloodwing about me. Where you never learned that stuff."

"Well, you wouldn't be known as the Lost Legate otherwise, huh," Eizen smirked, shaking his head. "Are you genuinely thinking of doing that, though?"

"Honestly? I'm considering it. But if you leave me to my devices in the next minute or so, I'll forget I had the thought in the first place, and your brain would stay unaltered. I recommend you wave goodbye and pretend I'm not threatening you right now." Magilou turned her head and smiled at Eizen, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Sweet dreams, Reaper."

With a quick wave, Eizen briskly walked away from the blonde witch, who was trying not to have a mental breakdown. The ocean would take too long to calm her down, and clouds were already forming above the Van Eltia. If she let this go on any longer, then they would be in the middle of a storm that Magilou herself caused. Knowing Eizen, he would be able to put two and two together, and trust Magilou even less. 

While she lost herself in her thoughts, the blonde hadn't realized that she'd dug her hands so far into the wood of the railing that her nails started bleeding. _Shit._ "Bienfu."

The Malak was abruptly summoned to her side and seemed to know what was wrong. "At your service, Miss Magilou. What do you need me to do?" Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the wind was beginning to pick up. 

Taking a deep breath in, Magilou spilled the beans. "Eizen knows. About my past. Menagerie, Mayvin, all of it. Almost, at least. Tail him for the rest of the night, make sure he doesn't hear, see, or notice you at all. If he says anything about my past to _anyone_ on this ship, come back to me. No matter what. That's an order."

Bienfu's eyes widened, but he quickly steeled himself. "I'm on it, Miss Magilou! Leave it to me."

The blonde smiled weakly. "Thank you, Bienfu. I trust you to do a good job. Go on, then. Make your mistress proud." When the normin left, Magilou had to stop herself from collapsing further. Instead, she very slowly turned and walked down the stairs to go to her quarters. 

_His illusion magic has stayed the same from when I first saw it,_ Magilou shivered, rubbing her arms as to pretend that she was cold and not reliving those traumatic memories from all those years ago. _Realistic, and I still hate them. Funny, how I know how to use illusion magic, but it's my greatest weakness. Then again, I wonder how Eizen could break through those illusions so easily. Hell, maybe I'll ask him about it._

When Magilou reached the door to her room, she paused. A part of her thought of taking a book from her room, then waiting for Velvet in the daemon's quarters. That sounded a lot better than being alone in her room for the next couple of hours. And Velvet wouldn't mind. 

Hopefully. 

So, grabbing a book — and her blanket and pillow, for extra comfort — Magilou stealthily made her way across the hall to Velvet's cabin. She knocked twice before opening the door and thanked whatever gods there were when the room was empty. 

When she sat on the floor, using her pillow as a seat, Magilou realized her first oversight: It was dark. She couldn't read her book with the awful lighting. Sure, she could light a lamp, but she didn't want to mess with Velvet's stuff — after all, she was already trespassing in the other woman's room. 

_Alright, then! I'll just… sit on the floor! And wait for Velvet._ Every fiber of her being was telling Magilou that she was hopeless and that she needed to leave Velvet's room before the daemon arrived. Despite those warnings, however, the blonde decided that she had no more energy to move, and sat quietly in the corner of the raven-haired daemon's quarters.

So, when Velvet arrived, she was scared shitless by the suspicious, _small_ silhouette in the corner of her room. Though closer inspection made her realize that she was a paranoid idiot, and the lump of cloth was, in fact, an asleep Magilou. The discovery didn't surprise Velvet; in fact, she'd wondered if the girl would visit her today or head straight to her own room. The former, apparently, as the sleeping girl seemed quite at peace, curled into herself on the floor.

_That's probably hurting her back,_ was Velvet's second thought, after making sure that Magilou was actually asleep. So, she gathered the small girl up — _holy shit, she's light_ — before placing the blonde on the bed. After tucking Magilou in, the raven-haired daemon moved to light the candle at her desk to keep herself busy as her semi-expected visitor slept soundly.

Her calm sleep didn't last for long, though. Barely an hour or so after Magilou had started sleeping, her breathing hitched. Velvet immediately picked up on the change, glancing at the sleeping girl, whose face had scrunched into one of immense discomfort. 

_Nightmares. No wonder I've never seen her sleep before,_ Velvet sighed, moving from her desk to sit on the edge of her bed. She didn't want to watch Magilou suffer, but the daemon didn't exactly know _how_ to help. Whenever Laphicet had nightmares, Velvet would always cuddle with him — which, _out of the question_. Singing a lullaby, maybe?

She used to sing a lot before. For Laphi. Her voice might be a little rusty, but it'd work. So, with a deep breath, Velvet got comfortable, and she started to hum. 

It wasn't a lot — just a simple lullaby that Celica used to sing for her when she was younger, and… _around_. Velvet liked the song so much that she made her older sister teach it to her, so she could sing it to Laphi whenever he had a bad dream. The melody wasn't hard, so it didn't strain her vocal cords, either.

After a few minutes of humming, Magilou's breathing evened out a little, but it wasn't enough to calm the girl completely. So, she took her unbandaged hand and started running it through the witch's blonde hair. It was soft, matted in some parts, but that's to be expected with long hair like Magilou's. It seemed like the right action, though, as the sleeping girl calmed down even more. Velvet relaxed at the realization, glad that she was able to help the blonde, even just a little bit. 

She wasn't blind — she could tell that Magilou was suffering a _lot_ , especially whenever she saw Melchior. Velvet didn't know the exact details, and it wasn't her place to pry since it was a sore subject for the witch. Regardless, she couldn't help but be curious about the girl. Her past was a mystery that Velvet was still trying to piece together bit by bit, but there were so many fragments missing that the she-daemon couldn't quite make sense of anything she knew.

Magilou had ties to the Abbey — more specifically, to Melchior. Did she find Bienfu during that time? Was he a gift? And did she learn illusion artes from Melchior? 

So many questions, little to no answers. 

Just as she was about to get up, Velvet heard the all-too-familiar squeaking of normin footsteps that got louder and louder, then stopped right in front of her door. The she-daemon quietly walked over and cracked her door slightly open to find Bienfu, anxiously waiting. "She's sleeping," Velvet said, voice low. "Do you need me to wake her?"

Bienfu's eyes widened, then he quickly shook his head. With a hasty bow, the normin promptly retreated from where he came — Laphicet's room. If Velvet weren't already exhausted, she'd be concerned with what the two were discussing in there, but her attention was focused on a particular blonde.

Said blonde, who was sitting up groggily and looking _very_ confused by the fact that she was currently in a bed. Magilou looked like she slept for twelve hours instead of barely one, and the fact that she seemed so tired was kind of… cute, in a sense. She looked like the child that she was, rather than the usual sad, broken husk of a girl. "Whose… bed's this?" The witch asked, voice laced with sleep.

"Mine," Velvet responded, her voice at the same low volume as it was before. "Go back to bed. I'll still be in here if you need me, so sleep as much as you want." For emphasis, the daemon lightly pushed Magilou back into the bed, then moved to sit at her desk. "Good night, Magilou."

Said girl stared at Velvet for a couple of seconds, before mumbling something incoherent and turning over. "G'night."

_Sweet dreams,_ Velvet thought, and hoped that it was actually the case that time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang visits the Bloodwings in Loegres, and Magilou tries to figure out what all Melchior has in store for their ragtag group of misfits while they escort their "mystery guest" to Titania. Eleanor is her first guess as to who the spy is, but is in for a surprise when //her// spy gets caught on the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so proud of myself for updating consistently. Here's hoping I don't jinx it :')

Well, Magilou’s hypothesis was correct. She’d never seen what an overflow of malevolence did to people, let alone an entire village. It was a memory that would stick with her, but as long as she didn’t think too hard about it —

“What’s going to happen to the children in that village?” Eleanor spoke up, her face the epitome of concern. “The infants?”

“Either killed by the exorcists or orphaned to _become_ exorcists,” Magilou responded simply. “Or they’re left there to suffer and live by themselves. Who can tell with those Abbey boys?” She shrugged, attempting as much nonchalance as she could manage. 

“How can you be so calm about all of this?! Those children might die—”

“And that sucks,” Magilou admitted, “but if you’re going to be so heavily affected by such a thing, maybe you aren’t fit to stay with us. After all, if you haven’t put two and two together, we’re _continuing_ to take therions from the Earthpulse points. Remember the griffin in Loegres?”

“Yes, what are you—” Eleanor froze, and all the blood drained from her face. “Oh.”

“ _Oh,_ indeed,” the blonde laughed. “Hopefully, things wouldn’t change _too_ much, as it seems like Loegres is quite the delightful town. But Haria seemed the same way as well, so who knows?”

“That’s enough, Magilou,” Eizen sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They still haven’t had the time to comprehend the truth of malevolence. Don’t strain them even more.”

“You strained them first by telling them the truth,” Magilou retorted, voice light, “But I’m not looking for a fight, so I’ll take my leave. I’ll be in my room, ladies and gentlemen.”

“Like hell you are,” Velvet interjected, grabbing the blonde by the collar before she could completely retreat. “We haven’t discussed where we’re going yet. Stay.”

Magilou rolled her eyes, but surrendered nonetheless, standing by Velvet. “Might I get this over with quickly and suggest Loegres? Not only would going there give us a solid area to test our theories about the therions, but it would also help us in pulling apart the Abbey’s plans even more. We could also ask Granny Bloodwing for information while we’re there.” The blonde smiled when everyone nodded in agreement. “Wonderful! Now that we’ve all decided on where we’re going, I’d like to leave.”

Velvet glared at Magilou yet again, and the blonde whined. “What? I’m not needed _that_ much, am I?”

When her complaint was met with silence and an overanalyzing, raven-haired daemon, Magilou mumbled a complaint under her breath, but stayed at Velvet’s side. “So after we dock, what’s our plan? We should visit the Bloodwings first, right?”

“I agree,” Eizen spoke up, then glanced at Eleanor. “But she can’t come in with us. If we try to waltz in with an exorcist — a praetor, at that — we’ll lose all trust that we’ve gained with that organization. No offense, Eleanor.”

“None taken,” the redhead responded, smiling. “I understand the importance of such secrecy. I’ll stay outside while the rest of you talk to the owner, I’d assume?”

“That wouldn’t work. Aren’t you known as a traitor to the Abbey? Sure, the Bloodwings have spies everywhere, but they can’t assure your safety if you’re just out and about. It would be easier for all of us if you stayed on the ship,” Magilou interjected. 

“... You’re right, Magilou. I’ll stay here,” Eleanor responded, surprisingly submissive. 

“I— I’ll stay with you!” Laphicet spoke up, and Magilou watched as a certain raven-haired daemon tensed. 

_Easy, tiger_. Magilou slipped her hand underneath Velvet’s long hair to trace soothing patterns on the woman’s back. The she-daemon grumbled, but leaned into the blonde’s touch. “Are you sure, kiddo? You’d be missing out on some great mabo curry if you stayed on the ship,” the blonde spoke, for Velvet’s sake.

At that, Laphicet seemed genuinely conflicted. Then he shook his head, and smiled at Magilou. “It’s okay. I’ll have other opportunities to have some. I don’t want Eleanor to be lonely.”

“Or you just want to spend more time with Kamoana,” the witch retorted under her breath, earning a withering side-glance from Velvet. “Well, alright. If you insist, kid.”

As Magilou quieted down to let the others speak, she made eye contact with Rokurou, who gave her a _look_. He glanced between her and Velvet, then raised his eyebrows. In response, the blonde shrugged. _Trust me, man, I don’t know either_ , but she continued to rub circles on Velvet’s back. When the attention was off the blonde, she leaned over and whispered into Velvet’s ear, “If you still don’t trust Eleanor, I can make Bienfu stay back. To make sure nothing happens.”

“And if he gets caught?” The she-daemon responded, unamused.

“He won’t,” Magilou hummed, smirking when Velvet glared at her. “I can assure you that he’s never gotten caught. Besides, he doesn’t have to be stealthy this time around. I can just tell him to stay on the Van Eltia. Catch a break, chill with Eleanor.”

Velvet sighed. “Sure, whatever. Do as you please.”

“Gladly, Velvet cake,” the blonde smiled, moving away and dropping her hand from the she-daemon’s back. 

“One thing I ask is that we stay away from the Empyrean’s Throne,” Eizen spoke, looking directly at Velvet. “After our first encounter, we’re not only far from prepared to fight Artorius again, but we can’t risk heavy injuries if we want to continue finding the therions and capturing them.”

Velvet was silent for a couple of seconds, mulling the thought over and over again. “Eizen’s right, Velvet. We can weaken Artorius through taking away the therions,” Rokurou broke the silence, “and _we_ can get stronger all the while.”

“But he was holding back when she first fought him,” Magilou stated, glancing at Eleanor when she flinched. “It’s the truth. He barely fought back, and to me, it seemed like he could have destroyed all of us with his pinkie. It would take all of us and then some to even put a scratch on the guy when he gets serious.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Velvet shrugged, “I’ll kill him, no matter what. You scared or something, witch?”

Magilou laughed, throwing her head back. “Me? Scared? Sweetheart, I’m hurt! You’re obviously not giving up no matter what, even if the cards are against your favor, so what’s the point in me even caring enough to _be_ scared? Besides, _I_ still have to stick around for that bet. Remember, Velvet cake, if you break, then I get my 100 gald,” the blonde hummed, spinning theatrically away from Velvet before she could get slapped.

“Hate to break it to you, but that’s _not_ going to happen. By the end of all this, you’re going to owe me that 100 gald, and you’re not going to be happy about it,” Velvet retorted.

As the two women bickered, Rokurou and Eizen shared a look. 

_A lover’s quarrel._

* * *

“Hey, Bienfu. Stay back for a second, would’ ya?” Magilou called to her Malak as the rest of the crew was getting off the ship. They’d arrived at night, but the port was bustling with life. Hopefully, the Bloodwings wouldn’t mind the late visit.

The normin jumped at hearing his name called, but still paused. “Yes, Miss Magilou?”

_Still scared of me after all these years, huh?_ The blonde shook her head, then smiled at her Malak. “Mind doing me a favor? Keep Eleanor and the kiddo some company. If our crybaby exorcist does anything suspicious, send me a signal, and I’ll come back to the ship. In return, I’ll bring back some sweets for you and the boy to share. Deal?”

“Of course! I’d be glad to spend time with Laphicet and Eleanor. Stay safe in Loegres, Miss Magilou!” Bienfu called as the witch walked away. Then, the squeaky patter of normin feet and a loud call to Laphicet gave Magilou’s Malak away. _Stealth isn’t needed, after all. Bienfu’s a fantastic liar, so all he needs to do is not mention why I asked him to stay back. You owe me, Velvet._

Said woman was waiting with Eizen and Rokurou in tow, meeting eyes with Magilou as she stepped off the ship. “My apologies. I didn’t take too long, did I?”

“No, you didn’t,” Rokurou spoke up, smiling at the short blonde. “But where’s Bienfu, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, that brat wanted to stay on the ship with our _beloved_ Eleanor. He argued with me, saying that I didn’t give him enough free time, the spoiled Malak. But I acquiesced. I just hope that Eleanor keeps that freak in his place,” Magilou fabricated the story with ease, shrugging. “Not my fault if he tries to steal her underwear or something. He’s his own being, after all.”

Velvet cringed at that, while the other two sighed and shook their heads. Disliking Bienfu was a mutual thing within their group, and Magilou didn’t blame them for it. “Well! Let’s get on with it, then. Granny Bloodwing, here we come!”

The small group traveled through Loegres, nodding to a few Bloodwing exorcists on the way. The last time they were there, the citizens were bustling with positive energy. Perhaps because of the excitement that came with the Shepherd and his greeting to his sheep. Now, the air reeked of malevolence. The only reason how that could happen would be that the therion changed locations. But the Abbey had it in a substantial barrier already, supposedly at an Earthpulse point. 

Unless someone stole their therion, which would not be a happy situation for whoever took it, _especially_ if they were against Velvet and the rest of their crew. 

Of course, when they got to the inn, Baskerville was waiting for the group. _Eizen learned about you from her. Maybe you should destroy this place and then some, so she knows not to fuck with the Lost Legate._ As if on cue, Baskerville looked at Magilou sympathetically, and something in the blonde bristled. Before she did anything that Velvet would kill her for, she broke eye contact and instead scanned the mysterious cloaked figure sitting at the bar. 

Which, mysterious was an overstatement— she knew the fragrant wood perfume quite well from her days back in the Abbey. Prince Percival, try as he might to hide his identity, was no match for the _magnificently_ intelligent Magilou. 

Regardless, she kept her mouth shut tight, not saying a word while they were in the presence of the Bloodwings. She was so hellbent on being quiet, in fact, that she didn’t realize she’d been completely silent until they got back to the port. 

Laphicet and Eleanor were there to meet them when they came back. Benwick argued with the greedy sailor, and Eizen was ready to step up to defend the younger pirate when—

An aura of utter neutrality and dullness seeped over the entirety of the port, and probably Loegres as well. The feeling sent a chill down Magilou’s spine. It was as if her emotions were sucked out of her body from every pore. Every civilian froze or slumped. Their eyes glazed over, and the _weight_ of Innominat’s attempted suppression was almost enough to make the blonde’s legs shake. And she was a powerful witch.

Laphicet had the same feeling, and the discomfort he showed on his face made Magilou’s stomach churn. “You felt that too, huh, kiddo,” was her quiet, sympathetic understanding of what was going through the young Malak. _The Suppression. Oh, Melchior, what have you done to get this far already?_

If Innominat had this kind of effect on her, then they needed to leave, and _soon_. When Eizen spoke her exact thoughts, Magilou didn’t spare a second getting on the Van Eltia. 

Velvet was right behind her, then the rest of the group quickly followed suit. The blonde stayed on the main deck for Prince Percival’s big reveal, then retreated to her cabin once everything calmed down. They were headed to Titania, to make the prison island their base of operations for the time being. The exorcists have been staying away from it, but Magilou couldn’t place her finger on why that was. 

If there was an Earthpulse point in Velvet’s cell, then why wouldn’t they be heavily guarding the place? Sure, the therion was gone, but it was still an Earthpulse point. 

_This had to all be planned out thoroughly by Melchior. So why can’t I see it from his point of view?_ The answer there was simple— she didn’t have all of the facts. Melchior had swaths of information that Magilou didn’t, and thus she was at a loss. If only she knew all of what Melchior was planning, she could get ahead. 

But that wasn’t possible, which made things even more frustrating. 

_Sometimes I wish I could’ve stayed in the Abbey, so I knew what the hell Melchior was planning,_ Magilou sighed, seating herself on the edge of her bed. Since the exorcists were avoiding all contact with Titania, that must mean that something happened to it, and it was so bad to the point where they had no exorcists on hand strong enough to take care of it. When Velvet and the rest of the prisoners first broke out, all of the stragglers should’ve been taken care of.

Unless the sudden flood of malevolence in an already negative-centered place strengthened the daemons and made the exorcists lose control. So did that mean daemons overran Titania? In terms of the Abbey, that didn’t mean much. But if there was a powerful enough daemon that overtook the _entire_ island… 

Venomization. If the prisoners remaining on Titania became crazy from the malevolence overflow, Magilou wouldn’t put it above the survivors to cannibalize each other. Usually, venomization involved some sort of third-party forcing two daemons to eat each other. Whichever one ended up alive after the grisly duel would fight yet another daemon, and the process would continue until the third party was killed by the monster they created. Regardless, Magilou wasn’t entirely certain if another power forced the venomization.

No matter what the truth was, she wouldn’t know for sure until they got to the island and fought a disgustingly powerful daemon full of malevolence. She was convinced that Velvet would get her fill, but if there were still exorcists on the island, then they might run into a little bit of trouble. 

Magilou sighed, staring at the wooden wall in front of her. Too many possibilities and not enough time to organize her thoughts properly. 

A knock at the blonde’s door jolted her out of her thoughts, and back behind her mask. “Who is it?”

“It’s Eleanor,” the redhead’s soft voice announced, “may I come in, Magilou?” 

There was something in the tone of Eleanor’s voice alluded to a deeper concern, underneath the short greeting behind the door. _Bienfu got caught._

“Sure, but I warn you, one wrong step and your leg might get blown off. I’ve got tons of traps set up, so stay on your toes, sweetie,” Magilou teased, smirking at the unamused redhead as she opened the door. “Of course, that was all a lie.”

“Speaking of, I know the real reason as to why you left Bienfu on the ship.” Eleanor’s tone wasn’t accusatory, per se, but she spoke with a sad sort of understanding. “You didn’t trust me alone with Laphicet, right?”

“I have no idea as to what you’re talking about, dear. Bienfu stayed on the ship because he would rather be with you than me. Of course, since we were only going into Bloodwing territory, I allowed it. I couldn’t care less about what you do with Laphicet, nor would I care if you still held relations with the Abbey,” Magilou shrugged, expression the epitome of carefree. 

The former exorcist frowned. “Please don’t lie to me, Magilou —”

“Me? Lie? Well, I’m quite hurt you would accuse me of such a thing!” The witch pouted, looking at Eleanor with feigned hurt in her eyes. “I’m an honest woman, sweetie, and an honest woman never lies.”

“... Fine, then. I’ll tell _you_ the truth since you’re not cooperating —”

Magilou’s dry laughter stopped Eleanor in her tracks. “The _truth_? Eleanor, dear, I don’t think you’re quite getting the bigger picture here. When I say I don’t care, I _mean_ I don’t care. Whatever ‘truth’ you want to share with me,” the blonde emphasized with air quotes, “Doesn’t matter one damn bit to me. You could sabotage Velvet’s plan for all I _care_ , and I would watch as the world burned around me.”

Eleanor stood still as Magilou got up from her bed and walked up to her with a morbid smile on her lips. “Besides, who says I don’t already know about your little plan? This witch is smarter than you think, to everyone’s surprise. But you underestimate the power of the truth. Just don’t come crying to me when you’re dragged down to hell with the rest of us.” 

_Kamoana already has you tied around her pinky finger. You care about Laphicet as if he were your younger brother. Human compassion is stronger than any ‘bond’ or ‘belief’ that Artorius could feed you through false pretenses built into his and the Abbey’s teachings._

_You’ll break, just like Velvet. And I’ll wait for that day with bated breath._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some small fluff this chapter, but I've been trying to incorporate the rest of the gang more, just to make things a little spicier. Even though Velvet and Magilou are my two favorite characters, it does me some good to add in the rest of the bunch, in terms of character analyzing and also more opportunities and creativity for scenes between my two best girls. Also, for what it's worth, I do love the crew in this game! Bienfu is... alright, but Phi is adorable, Eizen's a nerd, Rokurou's dumb and Eleanor is sweet. Leaving them out wouldn't do justice to the game, and, again, it expands what I can do for the rest of this story.  
> So far, we're looking at approximately 20+ chapters, since I have to refresh myself on what all happens in the late-game story post-Innominat scene in Titania. I remember some parts vaguely, but for the sake of my sanity, I might cut a few corners. To be honest, I'm dreading writing the post-Innominat/Earthpulse chapter, which seems to be the one I'm on right now (if I remember the game's timeline correctly teehee) - chapter 13. Hopefully when I rewatch the cutscenes and cry, I'll be able to write it confidently enough to be able to post it on here with no regrets on how it turned out.  
> I think you guys will like chapter 12, though. I'm sprinkling in more and more fluff, but I can't let y'all be spoiled too much :) In the meantime, stay safe, wash your hands, drink water and see you next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all staying healthy and staying inside as much as possible! I don't really like how this chapter turned out, but I can't quite place my finger on why. Comments are appreciated as always!

Medissa was quite the charmer — snake-charmer, in fact, and Magilou couldn’t help but despise her for how she perceived the world. Blinded by the Abbey’s lofty words, blaming the world for the death of her daughter, fueled by her hatred and not even  _ trying _ to see things from Velvet’s  _ or _ Eleanor’s point of views.

It reminded the witch of what Velvet was like at the beginning of their journey. Sure, Velvet was still hellbent on revenge, but at least she wasn’t some limp marionette for the Abbey to use. That’s what Magilou liked about her — she was fueled by emotion, but not to the point where she threatened to end Magilou’s life whenever she opened her mouth.

Of course, there were a few times where she got a withering glare or an eye roll, but Velvet was a lot tamer. 

But Medissa reminded Magilou of a girl that she loathed more than anything in the world. More than her hatred of Melchior.

_ The Abbey is always right,  _ Magillanica would say, depriving herself of sleep, food, and water to finish her work.  _ Master Melchior knows what’s best for me, _ as the young girl tore herself to shreds, then sewed every piece back together to make a new Magillanica, one that her inspiration, her mentor — her  _ father  _ would be proud of.

But the fabric was weak, and the threads were poorly sewn together, and the young Legate destroyed herself from the inside out, all from one mistake. 

Fortunately, Laphicet cut in before Velvet could do any irreversible damage to Medissa. Giving her a nice pep talk, and unconsciously manipulating the poor, mourning mother to come with them, bribing her with a new child to coddle: Kamoana. Honestly, after Magilou got over the initial surprise, she was quite proud of the young Malak — she couldn’t have done it better herself. The boy cleared the fog clouding Medissa’s mind, and she realized that the Abbey  _ was _ wrong and that she  _ should _ side with Velvet.

Or, as the exorcists called her, the Lord of Calamity.

How fitting, Magilou thought, as she watched Velvet stare out at the ocean with an air of undeniable sadness. The girl was a disaster magnet, so no wonder the Abbey decided to give her such a title. 

“Fancy meeting you out here, Vel,” the witch spoke, walking to stand next to Velvet. “You sure you have the luxury to be brooding out here when there’s a  _ dangerous _ therion on our ship?”

“Depends. Are you talking about Medissa or me?” Velvet’s response was, in every sense of the word,  _ Velvet _ . So very Velvet, in fact, that Magilou laughed. “But if you’re that worried about Medissa being a danger to our crew, why don’t you go over there and enhance Eizen’s binding spell?”

“Ah, those aren’t my forte,” Magilou responded, shrugging. “The last time I put a binding arte on somebody was  _ years _ ago, and they couldn’t move. So, I’ll leave the Earth-oriented artes to Earth-oriented malakhim.”

In reality, Magilou  _ could _ easily enhance Eizen’s binding arte; however, there was a simple reason as to why she wouldn’t. She didn’t want to. That was a piss-poor excuse, and the blonde knew that was the case, but she didn’t want Velvet to somehow convince her into going over and doing the deed. So she came up with some lame story to keep the heat off of her.

But Velvet read her like an open book.

“You could just say you don’t want to, you know.”

The blatancy of that statement almost made Magilou choke on the very air she was breathing. She caught herself before her slip-up, though, and chuckled weakly in response. “Well, I didn’t know if you would take that as a valid answer, but you’re obviously not worried about Medissa going ape-shit, so I should’ve guessed,” the blonde sighed, resting her arms on the Van Eltia’s railing. “Your night terrors keeping you out here tonight, too?”

It was Velvet’s turn to pause at that. “I’m surprised. That’s the first time I’ve heard you admit to having nightmares, Magilou.”

“I’d be vaguer about them, but I hate beating around the bush with people who know me better than I’m comfortable with,” was Magilou’s honest response. “And you, my dear Velvet cake, are the winning contender to that title as of right now. In terms of discomfort, you might even rival Grim.”

“Is Bienfu not worth being my competition?” Velvet questioned, amusement playing at the corner of her lips.

“Oh, he’s not worth being anyone’s competition. You may be the Lord of Calamity, but don’t let that get to your head too much,” the witch teased, smiling weakly. Magilou couldn’t have been more thankful for the fact that Velvet wasn’t looking at her, which meant that she could let her tired facade slip through the cracks of her mask. 

_ Teeth crack and shatter as a fist meets Magillanica’s jaw. The taste of blood mingles with the grating of her teeth against each other, and the young girl cringes as she accidentally crunches a loose tooth as she falls and hits the ground. The sound echoes in her head and bile rises in her throat. _

_ Blood meets stomach acid halfway when a steel-toed boot hits her stomach, and Magillanica can’t help but cough and vomit from the pain. “She’s just a kid,” she hears someone say. Their voice is faint, meek. _

_ “That ain’t no kid,” a gruff voice responds, and something wet hits Magilannica’s cheek. “That’s a damn fuckin’ monster we’ve got on our hands.” Before she can curl up on the ground and protect herself from further harm, the young blonde is lifted by her hair, and she can’t help but want to cry from the pain. _

_ “You have any idea how much shit you’ve thrown your parents into by just bein’ alive?” The old man growls, yanking Magillanica’s hair even more. “Do you!? Answer me!” _

_ Magilou watches the interaction from afar. At this point, the poor, young Magillanica is unconscious; her eyes glazed over. There is only so much pain a child can take before their body gives out, and the girl was at her limit. She watches as the old man, who reeks of booze, tosses Magillanica to the ground, spitting once more on the girl’s limp figure before walking away. _

_ “Of course I knew,” Magilou answers for her younger, broken counterpart. “I heard whisperings of hushed arguments when I should’ve been asleep, and old bastards like you didn’t help my case, either. When you make friends with entities that most people can’t see, it’s not your fault when they ensure revenge for you.” _

_ The next day, they find the man’s belongings ransacked, and his house destroyed. Her small village blames the young witch and threatens her parents with hanging if they don’t get their daughter under control. _

_ Magillanica hides. After that incident, she rarely ever moves from outside of the house. Her body is already so frail, so her sharp transition to being a shut-in does anything but help her health.  _

_ Magilou remembers the days where she leans over a chamber pot, dry heaving, and rejecting any medicine or food that her parents try to give her. _

_ At the time, Magillanica thought she was dying.  _

_ She thought it was a gift. If she died, then she wouldn’t be a burden to her parents. So she continued to reject the food and medicine — not because her body couldn’t — because she wanted to die. The faster, the better, and sweet Magillanica knew that the worse she got, the better chance she had of not making it through her sickness alive. _

_ One night, when she was delirious from lack of sleep, food, and water, she told her parents the truth. Their child was trying to kill herself because she knew how much of a weight she was on her parent’s shoulders. She apologized for being a monster and knew that if she died, then her parents would try for another child. Magillanica prayed for her parents’ sakes that the baby would turn out normal. _

_ The same night, her parents apologized to Magillanica, holding her in their arms, assuring her that she was loved and that her parents cared and adored her, no matter what she’d done in the past. _

_ It almost seemed like a turning point. _

_ A week after, the Menagerie came. _

Funny, that the one thing that bothered Magilou the most out of that nightmare was the fact that she crushed one of her teeth. Luckily they were just baby teeth, and her adult teeth would grow in not long afterward, but the  _ sound _ and the  _ feeling _ just made her cringe —

“Stop.” Velvet’s gruff voice brought the blonde back to reality, and a warm hand found its way to the small of Magilou’s back. “I don’t know what your nightmare was about, but if you keep thinking about it like you were just then, it’s only going to get worse and worse.”

Magilou hated the fact that she practically melted into Velvet’s touch. But she was starved of physical affection, and her Lord of Calamity didn’t seem to mind much in giving her a taste. “Easier said than done, you know. Vivid nightmares are hard to get out of your head.”

“I do know,” the raven-haired daemon sighed, “and that’s why I want you to stop thinking about it. Reliving shit like that isn’t enjoyable.”

“Tell me about it,” Magilou sighed, resting her head on Velvet’s shoulder. “That was the first time I slept in weeks, and it ends up getting ruined by some stupid nightmare. Funny, though. When I slept in your room, I don’t think I had any dreams at all, good or bad. I wonder why.”

“Who knows,” Velvet spoke quietly, “maybe I ate your dreams while you were sleeping, and that’s why you don’t remember a thing.”

But saying that she didn’t remember  _ anything _ was a stretch, Magilou wanted to respond. She  _ knew _ why she didn’t have any night terrors haunting her, and that was because Velvet went out of her way to help her while she was asleep. She was surprised that she didn’t wake up screaming, jolting out of her bed, cold sweat clinging to her skin and clothes.

Velvet had a pleasant singing voice. Magilou wished she could hear it more often. Of course, that meant  _ asking _ the she-daemon to sing for her, and that would result in Velvet knowing that Magilou knew that she hummed for the blonde while she slept.

Which, in Magilou’s case, was not worth the extra trouble. Hell, the fact that she was so close to Velvet — head resting on her shoulder, the raven-haired woman’s arm on her back, Magilou’s eyes drooping from the sudden exhaustion that overtook her body—

“Oh.” The realization of what Velvet was trying to do finally caught up to the witch’s tired brain. “You sneaky little daemon, you,” Magilou yawned, leaning further into Velvet’s body, “trying to put me to sleep, are you?”

“Am I?” The guilty woman hummed, pressing her lips to Magilou’s temple. “Seems like it’s working, though.”

“Ugh, it is,” Magilou grunted, her brain too mushy to comprehend the affection that Velvet was giving her. “What are you going to do,  _ carry _ me to my bed?”

“No. But I’ll carry you to mine,” Velvet answered, and the last thing Magilou could coherently remember was the sensation of being lifted off her feet before things got too blurry.

When she woke up the next morning, the blonde couldn’t tell what was real and what was a part of the weird fever dream that she’d had of Velvet while she actually  _ slept _ . It was nice, though — better than her watching herself get beat up in a fucked up third perspective. 

Magilou tried to move and get out of Velvet’s bed, because she had a nice enough rest and if anyone figured that the blonde slept in Velvet’s room, then all hell would break loose. When she tried to get up, however, something — scratch that —  _ someone _ kept her from budging. It was a warm someone, and if this really was Velvet’s room, then that could only mean one thing.

As a way to test the waters, Magilou tried getting up once again, but the same someone grumbled and pulled her in  _ closer _ . “... Velvet,” the blonde said gingerly, as it was test number two. If that  _ was _ the beloved Lord of Calamity whose arm was wrapped around Magilou’s torso, then they were about to have a  _ problem. _

Of course, when Velvet mumbled something that Magilou could only translate to sleep-induced refusal, the witch was just about ready fully wake her up —

Until Velvet nuzzled her head into the crook of Magilou’s neck, and the blonde wanted to  _ cry _ because gossip be  _ damned _ , Velvet was fucking cute when she was tired.

So, Magilou accepted her fate and indulged in the opportunity while it lasted, maneuvering herself to where she was facing Velvet. Rather than watching the other woman sleep, however, the blonde closed her eyes, relishing in the warmth of another person’s presence.

Surprisingly to herself, she actually fell back asleep. Unfortunately, being a light sleeper meant that the slightest change in  _ anything _ woke her up. So, when the weight of the bed shifted, and Magilou suddenly became a  _ lot _ colder, she pretended to be asleep as Velvet woke up. Her eyes stayed closed as she heard the rustling of clothes and bones popping as the other woman stretched. 

Then the mattress dipped again, and a hand moved the stray hairs from Magilou’s face. She heard Velvet take a deep breath as she took her hand away from the blonde’s face. 

There was a knock at the door, and Velvet went to answer it. Her voice was low, and something in Magilou’s chest constricted because she didn’t  _ have _ to be quiet, but she was. “What is it?”

“We’re almost back at Titania,” Eleanor answered. “I just wanted to let you know. By the way, do you know where Magilou is? I tried knocking on her door, but no one answered—”

She could feel the redhead’s gaze flicker to Velvet’s bed and freeze there. Magilou’s immediate response was with an illusion arte, focusing an exact copy of herself exiting her own bedroom, yawning, and stretching. While she did her magic, the witch hopped out of Velvet’s bed, walking past the she-daemon with a smug look. 

“Oh! Good morning, Magilou. I knocked on your door earlier, but I guess you were sound asleep,” Eleanor smiled, none the wiser as to what just happened. Velvet, however, looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

“Yes, I was sleeping like a log,” the blonde responded, yawning halfway through her sentence. “Are we almost to Titania, then?”

“Yes, just a few hour’s time. I thought you two would be awake by now, but I guess we all have days where we sleep in,” Eleanor chuckled, then paused. “By the way, Magilou, Eizen wanted to talk to you about something. He didn’t tell me what, but he’s on the main deck waiting for you. I’ll leave you two be, then.”

As the redhead left, Magilou casually went to go into her quarters and prep herself for the day ahead. The only thing that stopped her was Velvet’s gaze on her back. “Something wrong, dear?”

“Was that an illusion arte?”  _ Straight to the point, then. _ “I take it you learned those from  _ Grimoirh.” _

“Quite the accusatory tone you’re using, there. If anything, you should be more thankful— I just saved both of our asses from being the next big gossip on this ship,” the blonde responded, avoiding the question with ease. When Velvet didn’t respond, Magilou walked into her room and closed the door behind her. 

_ If I were you, I’d never want to be seen in such a compromising position with me of all people. I just did you a big favor. _ Magilou didn’t doubt that Velvet was smart enough to know that she had past ties to Melchior — Hell, she probably already  _ knew _ . Eizen was supposedly the only one who knew every part of who Magilou used to be, regardless of how much she’d tried to hide it.

Right. He wanted to talk to Magilou about something. 

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of short chapter, but important in terms of expanding on the Magivel relationship. They sLePt ToGeThEr and Magilou was afraid of Velvet hating her if word got around that Eleanor saw them in the same bed, so that's why she used an illusion arte on those two. See you next chapter, where the gang finally makes it to Aball! yIkEs! Get ready for that trainwreck haha


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lord of Calamity arrives at her hometown, with her honorable soldiers (and Magilou) in tow. Even as Velvet is deadset on not losing her way, a certain blonde's advice slips from her mind as she falls deeper into the illusion. You can fight against pain, but you can't fight against happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for a lot of sad, and a little bit of Magilou interrogating a certain man whose name starts with "M" and rhymes with "Felchior!" And then a LOT more sadness afterward!

Magilou was ready for the fog. She had her suspicions of Melchior _knowing_ where the rag-tag group of misfits was headed, but all of her theories were proven correct when she saw it. There was a traitor amongst their ranks, but the witch didn’t want to believe it was true. She’d be lying if she said that she hadn’t come to _tolerate_ the crowd she hung around so much, but none of her newer acquaintances struck her as secret spies.

Eleanor might have been a contender before she spilled all her not-so-secret secrets to the group, but she was clean from any Abbey communication. 

But it was already too late to say anything, as the fog enveloped the Van Eltia. Besides, her bet with Velvet was still going strong, and she knew that the she-daemon would fall prey to Melchior’s illusion artes. Just as Magillanica did all those years ago, Velvet would fail to realize that her dreams didn’t become a reality.

She would fall, and she would break. Magilou wasn’t above watching that happen for a hundred gald. Besides, it was better this way — she was getting too chummy with Velvet recently, and if she didn’t intervene, then it would be all the more reason for her little crush to crumble to bits.

Eizen was the only one who seemed suspicious of the happenings in Aball — and Velvet was too, at first. She saw her brother die, and she probably saw the people of her village turn into daemons, as well. 

But, just as Magilou warned her, she couldn’t fight against happiness.

And when her heart twisted at the sight of Velvet crying over her “living” brother’s sleeping body, it all came crashing down. 

She left. Melchior was good, but he wasn’t good enough to be far from his illusions when he casts them, _especially_ for one this big. Sure, it was a small village, but the fog was realistic enough to where it tore _Velvet_ down. So much for being the Lord of Calamity, but it didn’t matter to Magilou if she got through the illusion unscathed.

Magilou just wanted Melchior dead. Her end goal never changed, and wouldn’t change until she was there for her former teacher’s dying breath. 

In terms of skill, Magilou was easily leagues ahead of her former master in everything but illusion artes. Melchior had years upon years on Magilou to refine his illusions, and she tried to avoid using them as much as possible. There were small ones here and there — the doves in Loegres, her copy on the Van Eltia — but _never_ at the scale that Melchior did.

So, she sent a signal. After she mingled with the fake citizens and went into the nearby forest, Magilou went to a secluded part of the plant life and _burned it._ Melchior had few weaknesses, but if there was one thing he loved above all else —

Ice breathed its way over the smoldering green, encompassing it in a cold embrace. Melchior’s footsteps crunched over the frozen grass, a frown creasing his aged face. 

Magilou breathed out a dry laugh, heat still radiating from her every pore. “Nice to see you still love nature, old man. Your fancy illusions, too.”

“And I see you’re ever the child,” Melchior sighed, looking sympathetically at a group of flowers that’d been scorched by Magilou’s flames. “What have you done this for, if not to seek me out and show more destruction over what you’ve already wrought?”

“You shouldn’t have known that we would come to Aball, yet here you stand, egotistical and arrogant,” was Magilou’s unamused response. “But I’m not here to pick fights. Not yet, anyway. What’s your game? You wouldn’t do something so flashy if there weren’t something you needed from this place. I know you want Velvet out of the picture, but you could easily kill her if you wanted to.” _There has to be something here that I can’t let him have. I won’t allow him to be another step ahead of me again._

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” Melchior responded simply. “You surprise me; however, I can’t imagine you being this clever all those years ago.”

Magilou laughed, throwing her head back. “Right, because you were so afraid of me overtaking you in terms of skill that you had to go out of your way to be disgustingly strict on me. Tell me, Melchior — did you ever put Artorius through one of your illusions like you did me?”

“I did not think it necessary. Claudin put his trust in Artorius as his mentor, so I followed suit. But do not attempt at making excuses. You failed my test, and that is all there is to it.” Magilou bristled but quickly calmed herself. “I will admit that you were a prodigy. You wouldn’t have honed your strength if it were not for my teachings.”

“Oh, _definitely_. Sucks for you, though, since your teachings weren’t good enough to get you a proper heir. Now you have to keep on living as Artorius’s shadow until you somehow find a replacement. But you and I both know that you don’t have that kind of time.” Magilou grinned devilishly, glaring at Melchior all the while. “Velvet will break through your damn illusion, and when the time comes, I’ll give you what you want. A death as painful as the same shit you put me through all those years ago.”

“Will you tell her the truth, then? And risk them knowing that you’re a former member of the Abbey?”

“No, but I’ll make it easier for them once I figure out if Bienfu really is your spy,” Magilou answered, shrugging. “And even when they do find out, I won’t care. As long as I get to kill you before they end me, that’s all that matters.”

“Spoken like a true fool,” Melchor scoffed. “You are a disappointment and the complete opposite of what the Abbey stands for. I am finished talking with you. Farewell.” Mist enveloped the old man, and he would’ve disappeared entirely if Magilou didn’t have the eyes that she did. A faint, glassy-looking silhouette walked away, barely warping the wildlife around it.

“Your artes are good, but they’re not perfect!” Magilou called to the old man. Quietly, she added, “That’s why Velvet will break through your stupid illusion. Your flaws and imperfections will be your undoing, you crass old man.” 

_Just as they were for me, all those years ago._

Magilou reminisced as she walked back to Aball. All the mistakes she’d made under Melchior’s wing, how arrogant she’d become during her time there. She pushed Bienfu — her one and only friend — away from her, as the Abbey taught her that malakhim were not to be treated as _equals_ , but _tools._ They existed to benefit the exorcists, and the fact that Bienfu had free will was a blessing. She could’ve easily taken that away from him.

Deep down, she knew that she would never agree with the Abbey’s teachings, and it always tore her apart when she was still Melchior’s student. She _wanted_ to be the perfect prodigy that her master trained her to be, but she was already so broken. Melchior tried to piece her back together, but she didn’t have enough time.

With a few more years, Magilou could’ve passed that test. She wondered what it would’ve been like if that were the case. Melchior would pass away, finding a worthy student to take his place as Artorius’s shadow. Magilou, being a Mayvin, would write history on the side of the Shepherd, with Velvet and her crew as the wicked villains that Artorius would have to defeat. She would teach Oscar and Teresa how to better their skills as exorcists. 

Eleanor would be a close acquaintance, and the redhead would most likely look up to Magilou. That was a startling thought. The fact that she would be Eleanor’s superior in terms of Abbey rank was nice to think about, though. Remembering how she was when she was still an exorcist, Magilou would’ve been a prime example of the cream of the crop.

Melchior would teach her the illusion artes in their entirety, maybe even trusting his Malak to her before he passed away. She’d seen Symmone on multiple occasions but had never really spoken to the Malak. She was the real source behind the old man’s powerful illusion artes — if not for Symmone, Melchior’s illusions would be sub-par, at best. 

If Magilou stayed in the Abbey, she would’ve been a formidable opponent for Velvet. As a master of the four elements, her weakness would be in hand-to-hand combat, but teaming up with Eleanor would solve that problem. The two of them would be nearly unstoppable and with the addition of Oscar and Teresa… 

Velvet wouldn’t have stood a chance.

 _How fortunate for her then_ , Magilou laughed drily, _that I’m on her side, and not theirs. She should be more thankful for that. Maybe I’ll mention it after all this is over. That’s to say if she forgives me for not telling her about Melchior’s illusion artes._

Magilou walked back into Aball casually as if it wasn’t strange that she was able to get past the villagers when the others had no such opportunity. Eizen saw this and looked at the witch with such shock that she couldn’t help but laugh. “What? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” she smiled, crossing her arms. “Before you ask, no, I didn’t make it to the cape. I just needed to talk to an old enemy of mine before it was too late.”

The blond Malak put everything together faster than Magilou anticipated, from the look of muted realization on Eizen’s face. “Did you learn anything from what he said to you?”

“Nah, not really. But this is no doubt one of his illusions. You heard Velvet: She decimated this village three years ago and ate up all the humans-turned-daemons from the flood of malevolence that came into her village. Saw her brother impaled by Artorius, the works. This is a dream conjured up by the old man himself,” Magilou gestured to the area around them. “And that powerful Malak of his.”

“Are you going to tell her?” 

“Nah, that would be boring and against my character,” Magilou responded, smirking. “It wouldn’t be fair to the 100 gald I put on the line for the bet I’ve got running.”

“And if she doesn’t break through the illusion?” Eizen asked, crossing his arms. 

He wasn’t expecting Magilou to laugh at his question, but the witch was full of surprises. “Unfortunately for me, she will. I don’t need to intervene for her to break free from the fog.”

“How can you be so sure? Her will has already broken, hasn’t it?” Eizen inquired further, crossing his arms. “Neither Rokurou or I have been able to break her out of her dream-like haze. She’s been wanting revenge for her brother’s death for all these years, and here he is, not dead. The rest of her village, too. And those two gravestones…”

“Oh, to her sister and her unborn child?” Magilou hummed. “Well, I’m not one for speculation, but I _do_ know Melchior. He probably thought that if he tried to revive those two, he might as well add Artorius into the bunch, since he was Velvet’s… brother-in-law? And that would mean Velvet seeing him, and the illusion would be pointless. You said it, after all — no matter what, Velvet wants revenge on the man who killed her brother.” _Ignoring the fact that her sister was revived as a Malak, and was then killed at Titania when our adventure first began… well. Eizen doesn’t need to know that part. As for her child… I wonder. The old man never did tell me where Phi came from, and since he has such a startling similarity to Laphicet in terms of looks._

“No, no. Everything here looks so new,” Eizen gestured at the wooden buildings, the moss-free stone fences, the well-kept dirt paths. “But those graves were covered in vines and other flora. Do you think he didn’t want to touch them?”

“Hell if I know. Maybe Artorius asked him not to touch them, since we _are_ talking about his dead wife and kid,” Magilou shrugged. “But anyway, I know you’re avoiding Velvet, but I’m starving. Want me to bring you any home-made grub?” The blonde smirked, raising an eyebrow.

Eizen frowned, shaking his head. “No, thank you. I don’t even know if the _food_ is an illusion, too.”

“Your loss. Crowe’s a great cook, even if she can’t taste anything.”

#

“You knew.” Velvet had shoved the door open to Magilou’s quarters, looking at the witch with such disdain that it almost hurt her feelings. “You knew about the fog. That’s why you tried to warn me.”

“‘People can fight against pain, but they can’t fight against happiness,’” Magilou quoted herself, shutting the book that she’d been reading at her desk. “So what if I did know? What are you going to do to me, Velvet? My 100 gald was banking on you breaking right at the moment you saw your not-so-dead, _dead_ brother’s comatose body in his bed, and yet here we are.”

She could _feel_ Velvet bristle at that. “So, you’re telling me that you _knew_ , but you didn’t tell me because of that stupid fucking _bet_?”

“Mhmm. What,” Magilou started, turning to stare Velvet in the eye, “did you put that _above_ someone like me? Velvet, dear, I don’t know if you remember the past couple of months, but I’m not the purest of souls. After all, a witch is the complete opposite of pure, right? So why is it such a surprise that I would watch you suffer? _Watch_ as you fell further — deeper and deeper into Melchior’s illusion?”

Amber eyes _burned,_ brighter than the flickering candlelight at Magilou’s desk. Something in the back of the blonde’s head told her to apologize, to make things right, but the rest of her body disagreed. “I will say, though, it was quite the sight. You were actually pretty cute when you were under Melchior’s spell. And that Niko girl… was she your best friend?” Velvet took a step forward. Magilou didn’t falter. “She wasn’t all that bad looking. A shame, though, since she’s dead and all.” Magilou chuckled, smirking while staring into the depths of a fiery daemon’s soul. “And you had to kill her _twice_.”

At that, Velvet’s anger faltered, flickered, and turned into something more heart-wrenching. Something in the daemon _broke_ , and Magilou should’ve been ecstatic. But it wasn’t the same as what she’d bet on — no, this was just a crack in the mask of Velvet Crowe. 

So, when Magilou walked up to the raven-haired girl and pulled her into a hug, that was no one’s business but her own. “Velvet. You’re strong for being able to break through Melchior’s illusion like that. Sure, he’s powerful enough on his own, but his Malak, Symmone, specializes in the very same thing that you went through.”

This was different, and it felt wrong. There was no _comfort_ in their relationship. It was sharp tongues and words that sliced their skin open, old scars reopening and bleeding waterfalls — this wasn’t _Magilou_. She’d rather be getting punched, letting Velvet take her anger out on her. Not _this_. This was too… vanilla.

“I was talking to Phi, earlier. When we first got back on the ship, and — and I looked at him, and all I saw was Laphi. They’re so similar, and I _hate_ I did that, but —”

“I know. I saw the resemblance, dear. It’s okay. You haven’t given yourself the time to grieve, have you? That was the village you grew up in, after all. The people you surrounded yourself with as a child, and it was all lost to you.” _Village destroyed, in shambles. A dragon, of all things. Any survivors were heavily injured or traumatized for life. Stonebury would take years to build itself back up, and it was already a small village as is. “It’s_ okay to let yourself cry, you know. Might do you some good.”

“I’d rather not,” Velvet sighed, leaning back. “I feel like if I do, then everything will come crashing down.”

Magilou hummed. “I can understand that. Come then, let’s sleep. I’ll make sure that you don’t have any nightmares.”

“What, and give me happy dreams with your illusion magic?” Magilou flinched, stepping away from Velvet. _That was a sore spot, sweetcheeks._ “Magilou, I—”

“No, I get it. The cat’s out of the bag, and you don’t want to get scratched,” the blonde interrupted, building walls upon walls back up to hide her mistake. _Happiness. Trust. Speaking of trust, I need to tail Bienfu. Perfect excuse._ “Besides, haven’t you noticed something was off with that whole encounter? How was Melchior supposed to know that our course was set for Eastgand? Aball, no less. There’s a traitor amongst our ranks, Velvet cake, and if you’re like me, there’s no time like the present to be paranoid. With that, I’ll take my leave—”

A hand reached out to grab Magilou’s wrist, tensed, then quickly dropped. “... Keep an eye out, then.”

“I will. Sweet dreams— or lack thereof, Vel.” As Magilou closed the door behind her, she realized a slight misstep in her calculations. 

_Fucking moron. That’s your room. You’re leaving her in your room. Oh, well. Not like there’s anything extremely incriminating in there. I’m glad I keep my room empty. What’s the point in having belongings when you don’t belong anywhere, right?_

Velvet reached the same conclusion but stayed glued in place, listening to Magilou’s retreating footsteps down the creaking, wooden hallway. She was in the witch’s room, and alone. In any other situation, Magilou’s mistake would’ve been laughable. 

But it wasn’t, and Velvet was an asshole.

The easiest way to fix this problem— this _misunderstanding_ — would be to run out of Magilou’s room and apologize to her. Treading lightly wasn’t one of Velvet’s strong suits. She was the type of person to head in straight-first without thinking about repercussions, or, in this case, another person’s feelings.

As Velvet stood still, however much she willed her legs to move, they did not listen. An unfamiliar emotion held her by the ankles, immobilizing her, and she _loathed_ being unable to resist its power.

 _Fear_. She was afraid of making things worse with Magilou. Her tongue wasn’t made for soft, sweet words — it was made to bite, to _tear_. To rip flesh and crunch bones beneath her teeth. She was a monster, and monsters do not apologize. Velvet couldn’t even remember the last time she apologized to someone and meant it.

The next solution that came to mind was stupid. The idea of leaving Magilou’s room felt… _wrong_ , for some reason, so she would just… sleep. In the blonde’s room. Rather than in her own.

“Fucking moron,” Velvet muttered, covering her face with her hands. But she couldn’t think of anything better, and for all her not-so-redeeming qualities, the Lord of Calamity was also a certified dumbass. 

So, stripping off all of her armor and excess clothes, Velvet slipped underneath the covers of Magilou’s bed before she could psych herself out, and closed her eyes. She probably would have fallen asleep, too, if she hadn’t heard the door creak open while she was still drifting off.

Footsteps froze after the door shut, and Velvet heard a sharp intake of breath as a set of eyes landed on her. “You’ve gotta be fucking yanking my chain, Vel,” Magilou whispered, exhaustion audible in her voice. “I was out there for three hours just to make _sure_ that I would come back to an _empty_ room. Are you even asleep?” Her volume increased slightly, and Velvet rolled over to meet the blonde’s tired, green gaze. “Figures.”

“I can leave,” Velvet started, sitting up. 

“For both our sakes, it would be better if you did. I don’t want to risk — I hate using illusion artes. So it would be best if we slept in separate rooms.” _No._ Magilou forced a smile for the sake of making this situation less awkward. _Stay, please._ “It was nice while it lasted. You radiate heat like a _furnace_ , you know. It almost makes it hard to get out of bed like that.” _Don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone. I want to make things up with you and not be afraid of what people will think about you being with someone like me._

“We should arrive at Titania late evening,” Velvet spoke quietly, her clothes in one hand. Once she stood in front of Magilou, she paused, frowning at the broken girl in front of her. “If you need me, then just come into my room. And— and… if I ever say anything that genuinely hurts you, then tell me.” Velvet slowly inched closer towards Magilou, until soft lips met the corner of Magilou’s. If she could’ve willed herself to move then Empyreans above she would’ve. She would’ve wrapped her arms around Velvet’s waist and pulled her in, and made sure that she _never_ left.

But fear held her back. Fear of ruining the moment, Magilou enjoyed the split second that it happened and forced herself to stay still until Velvet left. After a few more minutes of being frozen in the spot, her legs finally crumbled from underneath her, and Magilou cried. The tears spilled over before she could stop them, and she covered her face in her hands and wept silently so that no one heard her.

She didn’t deserve such warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, hey! They... kissed! Kind of? But really, how could you expect any more fluff than that? If you could even call that fluff. I wish I could say chapter thirteen is any better, but unfortunately, it's already written in stone. I also chose to focus on the part that we didn't see while Velvet and the gang were stuck in the Earthpulse: Magilou's face-off with Melchior. And... I mean... I'll let you read it yourself. See you next time, and until then, stay safe and wash your hands!


End file.
